Itálica in Spain

The Itálica site is an ancient Roman town near Santiponce, Spain. The ruins of the town are spectacular and definitely worth seeing. There is everything from an amphitheater to bath houses. Everything is beautiful, and it truly takes your breath away. Even better, E.U. citizens are free, and any other nationality is 1,50 euros! (No, the comma is not a typo, it's the European decimal point essentially.) You will see astonishing sites wherever you may look.

The town of Itálica was established in 206 BC. The town was situated along the Guadalquivir River, which made farming and sewage systems very easy to maintain and use. However, the river eventually changed course, and abandoning the city, so to speak. Therefore, the people left too. While they were there though, they built some pretty cool things.

The main thing that draws in the tourists is the amphitheater. It was made to seat about 25,000 people, but the town only had 8,000. Most of the amphitheater has been excavated, and you can see the pillars in the front and the stairs are almost completely intact. It is about half the size of the Roman Colosseum! There is a lake right next to the gorgeous structure, but is has been dammed so the archaeologists could dig up the remains. You can walk a (steep) path to the top of the land behind the amphitheater, and receive amazing views, or, you could stand in the smack middle of it and take a panorama. It is beautiful and breathtaking either way.

I absolutely loved spending time at the Itálica and it looked pretty awesome. I liked walking through the farms and seeing the old roads the most. I thought that it would be pretty cool if we spent a weekend or so and lived like the Ancient Romans did. If we wore their clothes, lived in their houses, and did their jobs we would have the true experience of being an Ancient Roman. The Itálica was amazing, and I am really glad we got to see it.