Isla de La Cartuja

Isla de la Cartuja is an island in the Guadalquivir River at Seville, Spain. The island's name derives from the cloistered monastery (Cartuja) located on the site, the Monasterio de Santa María de las Cuevas, where Cristopher Columbus lived when planning the voyage to the west. The world's fair to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first Columbian expeditions, the Expo '92 was located here. Before 1992, the island was completely isolated between two Guadalquivir river branches. After the rearrangement of the river channel system on the occasion of Expo '92, it was joined to mainland by a wide isthmus in the South with Triana neighbourhood, becoming a peninsula. The former island is connected by notable bridges, such as the Calatrava designed Puente del Alamillo and the Puente de la Barqueta. Among other infrastructures and buildings located on the Isla de la Cartuja, the most important is Cartuja 93 park, a research and development complex, employing 15,000 persons. The La Cartuja Stadium, University Schools of Engineering and Communications, the musealized Pavilion of Navigation, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Andalusian Contemporary Art Center) and the Jardín Americano (American Garden, a public botanic garden) are also located here.