Archaeological Site of Italica

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Monumento enterrado entre plantas del emperador Marco Trajano

The Roman city of Italica is found in the Lower Guadalquivir, halfway between Seville (Hispalis) and Alcalá del Río (Ilipa), in what is now Santiponce, very close to the routes that communicated with the mining area of the Seville’s Sierra Morena and Huelva. It played an important strategic role during the High Roman Empire in both the political-military and economic spheres. Proof of this is that it came to occupy an area of approximately 52 hectares.

The origins of the Archaeological Site of Italica date back to 206 B.C., when General Publius Cornelius Scipio defeated the Carthaginians in the Battle of Ilipa in the Second Punic War and established a detachment of legionaries on the Cerro de San Antonio, a place where there had already been a Turdetan population since the 4th century B.C. Although at first both communities lived together in this area near the Guadalquivir, the Romans soon imposed their social and political ways. In the second half of the first century B.C. the city acquired the status of municipality and, subsequently, during the government of the emperor Hadrian (117-138 A.D.), that of a colony, which made it equivalent to a metropolis in administrative terms.

It was the cradle of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian, and the source of many of the senators of the time. Currently, the Archaeological Site of Italica offers the visitor the sight of a splendid Roman amphitheater and the possibility of walking through the layout of what were once its streets, as well as learning about the houses, public buildings, works of art and everyday utensils used by its inhabitants.

The visit to the Archaeological Site includes the amphitheatre, the theatre, the baths, the domus, the temple and the walls.

Opening times

1 January to 31 March:
Tuesday to Saturday: 09:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sundays and holidays: 09:00 am to 3:00 pm
Monday: Closed.

1 April to 15 June:
Tuesday to Saturday: 09:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Sundays and holidays: 09:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Monday: Closed.

16 June to 15 September:
Tuesday to Sunday and holidays: 09:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Mondays: Closed.

16 September to 31 December:
Tuesday to Saturday: 09:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Sundays and holidays: 09:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Monday: Closed.

Labels

Italica

Archaeology

Italica's Archaeological Site