It takes some time to write these blogs, so I am writing the Roman section after a visit to Rome. We had a great visit to Rome seeing some major sites we haven’t seen before. I must say I was stuck by the lack of beautiful art in Rome as compared to Ostia antica, Herculaneum, France, Sicily and yes Spain. We did not see one colorful mosaic in Rome; it appears all the subsequent inhabitants knew about the beautiful Roman buildings and plundered them.
I now search for Roman ruins wherever we go to an area the Romans have colonized. Spain being a major province of Rome has wonderful remains. My research returned two villas that were in the vicinity of where we were going plus a town. There were other sites, especially Merida, that were out of the way.
The sites we saw were:
1. The city of Italica – just outside of Seville
2. Villa romana de Noheda – near Cuenca
3. Villa romana La Olmeda – near Saldaña
1.Italica
Italica is a 20 minute drive north of Seville. It was founded in 206BC by Roman general Scipio as a colony for his Italic veterans. It was the first Roman settlement in Spain. It was the birthplace of 2 important emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The site is definitely worth seeing with a unique amphitheatre and some lovely mosaics. It is a real shame that it doesn’t get the love like Olmeda. At least cover them to prevent sun and rain erosion.
The first structure one sees is the amphitheatre but its confusing at first because it just looks like a large rock formation. Once you get inside you can see the amphitheatre has been built into an existing rock formation, very unique. It seated 25,000 people, about half the size of the Colosseum.
I love getting glimpses of Roman life through the archeological remains. This next gallery shows an army latrine. You can see the communal toilet seats with spots for 4 people. What no longer exists is the stick with a sponge on the end that sat in a bucket, that was used in lieu of toilet paper. The historians peg this as army because of the mosaic in the latrine. I guess the joke 2000 years ago was that a small person like a pygmy would have a large penis.
The building ruins and mosaics are great, better than anything in Rome. The bird mosaic is world class. Apparently it only had 8000 inhabitants. However considering the size of its amphitheater it must have attracted people from the surrounding area. There is also a theater that was located a short distance from the main site.
2. Villa romana de Noheda
This was a disappointment. The Roman villa in Sicily was our first Roman villa and it was spectacular, setting the standard by which all other villas are measured. This looks like its still being uncovered for one thing. The structure covering the site is pretty crude. There is no visitor center, you meet some lady in a dirt parking lot with your tickets purchased online. There is no English provided on the tour. The mosaics were in rough shape. I am glad we stopped in Cuenca; it broke up a long drive, the town with its hanging houses was great and so was the hotel. I would recommend skipping Noheda.
3. Villa romana La Olmeda
Yes Yes Yes this is what we wanted. It compared very well to Sicily. This is a world class museum, with a significant structure built over top of the villa’s remains. There were great mosaics and a full bath. The story of the villa is very interesting. Apparently as Rome started to decline in the 3rd and 4th century AD their control over their provinces started to wane. So in Spain ruling/commercial hubs started to emerge and the villas were where these “magnates” ruled from. I stole the term magnate from Byzantine history, but it works here perfectly. Initially the villa would have been much more modest and was expanded in stages from the 1st to the 3rd century AD as its wealth and importance grew.
As I mentioned in the Trip Blog, archeological museums where the Romans happened to be settling are a treasure trove of information and artifacts. Here are some of the artifacts from the archeological museum in Madrid.
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