Casa de Las Columnas

The Casa de Las Columnas is located on the site that used to be occupied by old Church of the Brotherhood and the Hospital de Mareantes. In about 1780, Fernando Narbona "constructed a beautiful house with doors and a balcony on the banks of the river in the Calle Larga", now called Calle Pureza. Then for many years it was a "corral de vecinos" (divided into a number of dwellings for workers) in the Triana neighbourhood)
Many years later it was purchased by the Seville City Council which refurbished it in 1988 to be used as offices for the Municipal Urban Management department. Then it was transferred to the Citizen's Participation Area for their Central Services and as a Civic Centre. In mid-1991 it was closed to convert it into the headquarters of the Commissary for the 1992 World Fair. When this ended in December 1992, preparation was begun for the reopening of the entire building as a civic centre and activities began in March 1993.
The Casa de las Columnas is arranged around two Sevillian patios with doors onto the Calle Pureza, the usual entrance to the centre, and the Calle Betis. The façades on both streets are noted for being robust and beautiful, and are much admired as typical of a Sevillian house by tourists visiting the neighbourhood.