San Francis Monastery was founded in 1248 and the plaza developed as its extension. After 1492 and the arrival of Columbus in America, Seville became as powerful as it had never been before thanks to its river and its evolution as a strategic port of the kingdom during the 16th century. The city held the monopoly of trade with the New World. Great urban projects were carried out at the time, among which the transformation of this area from a filthy fish market into a large open space that became home to the city’s Town Hall, a structure that was meant to be a proud manifestation of the city’s glory. The old monastery, on the other hand, started losing its radiance until it was eventually demolished in 1840 to make room for the current Plaza Nueva.