Royal Tobacco Factory
Encyclopedia
The Royal Tobacco Factory is an 18th-century stone building in Seville
, southern Spain
. Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate of the University of Seville
. Prior to that, it was, as its name indicates, a tobacco
factory: the most prominent such institution in Europe, and a lineal descendant of Europe's first tobacco factory, which was located nearby. It is one of the most notable and splendid examples of industrial architecture from the era of Spain's Antiguo Régimen.
(The House of Trade), held a monopoly on commerce with the Americas. At the beginning of the 16th century the first tobacco manufacturers established themselves in Seville, the first anywhere in Europe. Initially, they were dispersed through the city, but were eventually concentrated in one place—facing the Church of Saint Peter—for sanitary reasons and to facilitate state control of the activity. In the 18th century, the royal government decided to build the present large building immediately outside the city walls.
. It remains one of the largest and most architecturally distinguished industrial buildings ever built in that country, and one of the oldest such buildings to survive.
The factory was built just outside the Puerta de Jerez (a gate in the city walls), in the land known as de las calaveras ("of the skulls") because it had been the site of an Ancient Roman
burial ground. Construction began in 1728, and proceeded by fits and starts over the next 30 years. The architects of the building were military engineers from Spain and the Low Countries
, most notably:
, known in Spanish as polvo or rapé); tobacco came both from Virginia
and from the Spanish coloines in the Americas. According to the inscription on two of the pillars of the drawbridge on the west side, the building was finished in 1770.
The production of snuff was heavy work: enormous sheaves of tobacco were hauled around manually, and horses turned the grinding mills. For centuries, Seville remained Spain's only manufacturer of snuff. The rising popularity of cigars resulted in part of the factory being adapted for that purpose; cigars were also made in several other Spanish cities: Cádiz
, Alicante
, La Coruña, and Madrid
. Long after the manufacture of cigars elsewhere in Spain (and in Cuba
) had become women's work, the workforce in Seville remained entirely male. By the beginning of the 19th century, 700 men were employed in the factory to make cigars, and another thousand to make snuff.
Over time, however, Seville's cigars developed a poor reputation. There were frequent problems with labor discipline, and quality was lower than in the factories where women made cigars; furthermore, men received better wages than women, so these inferior cigars were more expensive than those produced elsewhere. The factory became less profitable. Matters were brought to a head during the Peninsular War
. The cigar-making portion of the factory closed in 1811. When it reopened in 1813, it was with a female workforce, then (from 1816) a larger, mixed workforce, and finally (after 1829) an entirely female workforce again, some 6,000 of them at the peak in the 1880s before numbers began to decrease because of mechanization.
Labor unrest was less common among the women than it had been among the men, though by no means was it unknown. There were revolts or strikes in 1838, 1842, and 1885, but none of them were sustained for more than a few days. With mechanization, the labor force reduced to 3,332 in 1906, about 2,000 in 1920, and by the 1940s only about 1,100.
, which is 207 by 162 metres (680 by 530 feet).
Renaissance architecture
provides the main points of reference, with Herrerian
influences in its floor plan, courtyards, and the details of the façades. There are also motifs reminiscent of architects Sebastiano Serlio
and Palladio. The stone façades are modulated by pilasters on pedestals.
Plans originally called for building the walls pilaster
s, arch
es and other elements out of the yellow-brown limestone
from Martelilla (near Jerez de la Frontera
), but it proved too fragile and too often defective. In the end, the stone used for the building came from Morón de la Frontera
.
's opera Carmen
is a cigarrera at the Royal Tobacco Factory.
until that was merged into Altadis
in 1999. In 2004, Altadis announced plans to shutter the plant in 2007, bringing to an end Seville's long tradition of making tobacco products. The factory's last day of operation was 31 December 2007. In June 2009, plans were announced to turn over that facility, as well, to the University of Seville.
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate of the University of Seville
University of Seville
The Universidad de Sevilla or University of Seville, in English, is a top-ranked European university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of Colegio Santa María de Jesús in 1505, the University of Seville, with a student body of over 50,000, is one of the top-ranked universities in the country...
. Prior to that, it was, as its name indicates, a tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
factory: the most prominent such institution in Europe, and a lineal descendant of Europe's first tobacco factory, which was located nearby. It is one of the most notable and splendid examples of industrial architecture from the era of Spain's Antiguo Régimen.
Antecedents
The Spanish encountered the tobacco plant almost immediately upon their first arrival in the Americas in 1492. The city of Seville, home to the Casa de ContrataciónCasa de Contratación
La Casa de Contratación was a government agency under the Spanish Empire, existing from the 16th to the 18th centuries, which attempted to control all Spanish exploration and colonization...
(The House of Trade), held a monopoly on commerce with the Americas. At the beginning of the 16th century the first tobacco manufacturers established themselves in Seville, the first anywhere in Europe. Initially, they were dispersed through the city, but were eventually concentrated in one place—facing the Church of Saint Peter—for sanitary reasons and to facilitate state control of the activity. In the 18th century, the royal government decided to build the present large building immediately outside the city walls.
Construction
This 18th-century industrial building was, at the time it was built the second largest building in Spain, second only to the royal residence El EscorialEl Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
. It remains one of the largest and most architecturally distinguished industrial buildings ever built in that country, and one of the oldest such buildings to survive.
The factory was built just outside the Puerta de Jerez (a gate in the city walls), in the land known as de las calaveras ("of the skulls") because it had been the site of an Ancient Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
burial ground. Construction began in 1728, and proceeded by fits and starts over the next 30 years. The architects of the building were military engineers from Spain and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, most notably:
- Ignacio Sala, who drew up the initial proposal in 1725. All of Ignacio Sala's plan that was executed was the building of a foundation and the canalization of the Tagarete, a stream that ran roughly along the route of the present-day Calle de San Fernando.
- Diego Bordick Deverez replaced Sala and was in charge of the project from 1731 to 1750. He developed a new plan to accommodate larger machinery than was originally contemplated. In actuality, construction proceeded only in two years of this period, from 1733 to 1735.
- The FlemishFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
engineer Sebastián Van der Borcht was put in charge beginning in 1750, and can be considered the primary author of the factory as it was built. He collaborated with local architects and builders Vicente Catalán Bengochea, Pedro de Silva, and Lucas Cintora.
Operation
The factory began production in 1758; the first tobacco auctions there (which were the first in Spain) took place in 1763. At that point the factory was employing a thousand men, two hundred horses, and 170 "mills" (: the devices used to turn the tobacco into snuffSnuff
Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century...
, known in Spanish as polvo or rapé); tobacco came both from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and from the Spanish coloines in the Americas. According to the inscription on two of the pillars of the drawbridge on the west side, the building was finished in 1770.
The production of snuff was heavy work: enormous sheaves of tobacco were hauled around manually, and horses turned the grinding mills. For centuries, Seville remained Spain's only manufacturer of snuff. The rising popularity of cigars resulted in part of the factory being adapted for that purpose; cigars were also made in several other Spanish cities: Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, La Coruña, and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Long after the manufacture of cigars elsewhere in Spain (and in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
) had become women's work, the workforce in Seville remained entirely male. By the beginning of the 19th century, 700 men were employed in the factory to make cigars, and another thousand to make snuff.
Over time, however, Seville's cigars developed a poor reputation. There were frequent problems with labor discipline, and quality was lower than in the factories where women made cigars; furthermore, men received better wages than women, so these inferior cigars were more expensive than those produced elsewhere. The factory became less profitable. Matters were brought to a head during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. The cigar-making portion of the factory closed in 1811. When it reopened in 1813, it was with a female workforce, then (from 1816) a larger, mixed workforce, and finally (after 1829) an entirely female workforce again, some 6,000 of them at the peak in the 1880s before numbers began to decrease because of mechanization.
Labor unrest was less common among the women than it had been among the men, though by no means was it unknown. There were revolts or strikes in 1838, 1842, and 1885, but none of them were sustained for more than a few days. With mechanization, the labor force reduced to 3,332 in 1906, about 2,000 in 1920, and by the 1940s only about 1,100.
University of Seville
In 1950 it was decided to move the tobacco operations to the Remedios neighborhood and to use the historic building as the headquarters of the University of Seville. The transformation of the building was a major undertaking, performed between 1954 and 1956 according to the plans of architects Alberto Balbontín de Orta, Delgado Roig, and Toro Buiza.Physical description
Although the interior has been much altered, especially during the adaptation in the 1950s for use by the University of Seville, the Royal Tobacco Factory is a remarkable example of 18th-century industrial architecture. It is one of the largest and best industrial buildings in Spain, and one of the oldest buildings of its type in Europe. The building covers a roughly rectangular area of 185 by 147 metres (610 by 480 feet), with slight protrusions at the corners. The only building in Spain that covers a larger surface area is the monastery-palace of El EscorialEl Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
, which is 207 by 162 metres (680 by 530 feet).
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
provides the main points of reference, with Herrerian
Herrerian
The Herrerian was developed in Spain during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of Philip II , and continued in force in the 17th century, but transformed by the Baroque current of the time...
influences in its floor plan, courtyards, and the details of the façades. There are also motifs reminiscent of architects Sebastiano Serlio
Sebastiano Serlio
Sebastiano Serlio was an Italian Mannerist architect, who was part of the Italian team building the Palace of Fontainebleau...
and Palladio. The stone façades are modulated by pilasters on pedestals.
Plans originally called for building the walls pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es and other elements out of the yellow-brown limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
from Martelilla (near Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, situated midway between the sea and the mountains. , the city, the largest in the province, had 208,896 inhabitants; it is the fifth largest in Andalusia...
), but it proved too fragile and too often defective. In the end, the stone used for the building came from Morón de la Frontera
Morón de la Frontera
Morón de la Frontera is a Spanish town in Seville province, Andalusia, 63 km South-East of Seville. It is primarily known as being home to Morón Air Base. The most remarkable monuments are the Moorish castle ruins and the main church...
.
Bizet's Carmen
The title character of BizetGeorges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's opera Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
is a cigarrera at the Royal Tobacco Factory.
The 1950s factory
The replacement factory built in the 1950s remained part of Spain's national tobacco monopoly TabacaleraTabacalera
Tabacalera is a Spanish tobacco monopoly which was established in 1636, making it the oldest tobacco company in the world . In 1999 the company merged with SEITA of France to form Altadis. Its brands included Ducados and Fortuna....
until that was merged into Altadis
Altadis
Altadis is a multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. Altadis was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and SEITA, the former French tobacco monopoly...
in 1999. In 2004, Altadis announced plans to shutter the plant in 2007, bringing to an end Seville's long tradition of making tobacco products. The factory's last day of operation was 31 December 2007. In June 2009, plans were announced to turn over that facility, as well, to the University of Seville.