Our spontaneous excursion to Italica from Seville turned out to be well worth it. It was much larger and more impressive than we thought, and an ancient Roman site was a nice change from the churches (not that I ever really get tired of churches). And thankfully, it didn't rain on us anymore and we even had sunshine for some of our photos.
Italica was founded in 206 BCE as a place of settlement for veteran Roman soldiers and their families. It became one of the largest Roman settlements in Spain and was the birthplace of two Roman emperors: Trajan (in 53 CE) and Hadrian (in 76 CE). Today, the ancient city is in ruins, as later civilizations (Visigoths, Muslims, etc.) preferred the site of Seville and swiped most of Italica's stone to build it.
Map of Italica from the brochure provided with admission.
