ruinas de Itálica

Today we went to some nearby Roman ruins from the 2nd century B.C. Amazing to think about, eh? It started off as a military camp but grew into a town, with an amphitheatre and plenty of huge rich houses. When the Romans left the peninsula, the city was abandoned, not reinhabited. Although plenty of it has been destroyed or stolen or reused, as you can see, much remains, including mosaics on the floors of the houses.

outside the entrance to the amphitheatre

within the entrance

within the entrance looking in

sort of like hollywood stars, in honor of someone, if I remember correctly

passageways under the theatre seats

the group

you know, the section they'd sometimes fill with water and crocodiles

down there: where the gladiators would come from. the called the passageway "walk of fear"

actual roman street stones

sewers and legs

Does anyone understand how much I wanted to run into this countryside? I miss open fields.

Various ruins of huge homes.

it's a game called find the phallus

 

if you click the image you might be able to see the diagonal line of one of seville's bridges, fogged out right in the center on the horizon

Santiponce, the pueblo next door

Don't worry, I gave her the cat only after I had clung to it for several minutes and kissed it fifty times. Apparently there are many strays living in the ruins, but they are well fed by the workers. This guy was very shiny-furred and in good health, and purred the whole time. (He approached our group and I wasted no time picking him up.)