LEBRIJA, or Lebrixa, a town of Spain, in the province of Seville, near the left bank of the eastern arm of the Guadalquivir, and on the eastern edge of the flat fluvial tract known as “Las Marismas,” formed by that river. It is 44 miles by rail from Seville, which lies north by east, and about 50 miles from Cadiz. The climate is somewhat unfavourably affected by the proximity of the marshes; but the sierra beneath which it lies protects the town from the hot easterly winds, and it enjoys during the heats of summer the pleasant alternation of land and sea breezes. The parish church, the only building of any note, is a somewhat imposing structure in a variety of styles—Moorish, Gothic, Romanesque—dating from the 14th to the 16th century; it contains some early specimens of the carving of Alonso Cano. The manufactures, which are unimportant, consist chiefly of bricks, tiles, and earthenware, for which a useful clay is found in the neighbourhood; there is some trade in the grain, wine, and oil of the surrounding district. The population in December 1877 was 12,864.

Lebrija is the Nabrissa or Nebrissa, surname! Veneria, of the Romans; by Silius Italicus (iii. 393), who associates it with the worship of Dionysus, the name is derived from veβpis. Nebrishah was a strong and populous place during the period of Moorish domination; it was taken by St Ferdinand in 1249, but again lost, and became finally subject to the Castilian crown only under Alphonso the Wise in 1264. It was the birthplace of Elio Antonio de Lebrija or Nebri ja (1444-1522), better known as Ne-brissensis, one of the most important leaders in the revival of learning in Spain, the tutor of Queen Isabella, and a collaborateur with Jimenez in the preparation of the Complutensian Polyglott.