The Royal Mail Post Way

Twenty-five leagues, that is, five posts or changes of horses, was the distance from Seville to Córdoba, and five leagues from here to Jaen. This route along the right bank of the Guadalquivir carried the Royal Mail from the time the Catholic Monarchs created the service. At first this consisted of correspondence concerned with state affairs, then commercial and of all kinds of correspondence. All along the itinerary there were staging posts, inns, chapels, bridges and large haciendas all along the Betis plain.

The Catholic Monarchs were eager to centralise power, and one way of controlling the territory was to create communication channels and this is why during their reign the mail was regularised as a Crown public service. At first it was only used for political correspondence, but after the discovery and conquest of the Indies it was also used for commercial activity, trade and transactions. This made travel much faster and by the end of the 16th century the route from Seville to Córdoba along the right bank of the Guadalquivir became the route taken by the Royal Mail, and all along the itinerary there appeared post offices, inns (one of which gave rise to the current town of "Posadas"), hermitages and chapels, control posts, bridges and large agricultural estates.

Despite the time that has passed and the numerous setbacks in the course of its history, this path, the Royal Castilla Way, has not disappeared from the map and the route is still similar to the one that has been in existence since the end of the Roman Empire. From the perspective of the traveller in the 21st century, it is another way of recognising and enjoying our history, touring and savouring a truly unique landscape: the Guadalquivir valley as it meanders through the provinces of Córdoba and Seville.