Spain - A Cultural Crossroads

A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME

Photo: philipus/123rf.com

a ITÁLICA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE SANTIPONCE, SEVILLE PROVINCE

a ROMAN BRIDGE CÓRDOBA

THE BAETICA ROMAN ROUTE To travel through Andalusia is to follow the traces of Roman Hispania. This route takes you to 14 cities in the provinces of Seville , Cádiz and Córdoba (the ancient Roman province of Baetica) and through the regions crossed in ancient times by the Via Augusta, the longest Roman road in Hispania. Of all the vestiges of Baetica, the most important is the Archaeological Site of Itálica , in Santiponce (Seville province), the city in which the emperors Adrian, Trajan and Theodosius were born. In Carmona (Seville province) there is a Roman amphitheatre, an archaeological museum and a necropolis , one of the largest and best preserved funerary sites in the Iberian peninsula. To complete the visit, the archaeological site's museum exhibits pieces of great value, such as funerary objects found in the excavations. In Córdoba you can follow the Seneca Route , named after the famous philosopher born in the city, taking you to such iconic places as the Roman

bridge over the Guadalquivir River, which serves as a pedestrian entrance way to the city. What was the capital of Baetica still conserves parts of the walls that surrounded it in good condition. The best stretches are on the Ronda de los Tejares avenue and Paseo de la Victoria . Nearby, you can visit the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos Fortress and see large mosaics from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. A visit to the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum and to the Cercadilla and Ategua sites completes this tour of imperial Córdoba. L www.andalucia.org/es/rutas/ruta betica-romana THE ROMAN WALLS OF LUGO Roman civilisation left its deepest mark in Galicia in Lugo, where the walls built between the 3rd and early-4th centuries AD remain in excellent condition and have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

17