The Guadalquivir has shaped Seville since Roman galleys first navigated its muddy bends. By the thirteenth century the river carried Moorish trade dhows beneath the Torre del Oro, a dodecagonal watchtower wrapped in golden tiles that reflected sunset across the water. When Ferdinand III conquered the city in 1248, he kept the tower as a customs checkpoint and treasury. Four centuries later, Spanish galleons returning from the Americas moored along the Arenal quarter, their holds packed with silver from Potosí and cacao from Veracruz, turning Seville into Europe's wealthiest port. Today the Guadalquivir bisects Seville's centre in a lazy arc, its banks lined with plane trees and whitewashed promenades. The river remains navigable from the Atlantic to the city, though modern cargo vessels dock downstream at the Puerto de Sevilla. Passenger cruises depart from pontoons along Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, where the Torre del Oro still anchors the eastern shore. A standard panoramic cruise covers five kilometres, passing beneath six bridges including the Puente de Isabel II — an 1852 iron truss span that connected Triana's ceramic workshops to the old city. The Puente de la Barqueta, built for Expo '92, arches ninety metres overhead in a single white rib, while the Puente del Alamillo leans backward at forty-five degrees, its steel pylon counterbalancing the deck without cables. Seville boat tour with drinks options range from eco-certified electric vessels to traditional timber launches. Most cruises run north to the Isla de la Cartuja, where pavilions from the 1992 World Exposition still cluster around the Canal de Alfonso XIII. Guides narrate in multiple languages, pointing out the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza on the eastern bank and the modernist ceramic façade of the Pabellón de la Navegación. Sunset departures align with the river's westward bend, casting amber light across the water as boats return past the Torre del Oro. The standard ticket includes one drink — typically Cruzcampo lager, tinto de verano, or soft options — while premium sailings bundle Andalusian tapas: jamón ibérico, marinated olives, manchego wedges. The river itself remains tidal, its level fluctuating a metre with Atlantic surges. Seville's maritime history ended when twentieth-century dredging moved shipping infrastructure downstream, but the Guadalquivir endures as the city's liquid artery, its surface still reflecting the Giralda's Moorish brickwork as it has for eight centuries.