Day 170
6 hrs, 15 .0 kms

Wandering around with no guidebook can be very rewarding. When you come across something amazing, you feel like you really discovered something, rather than feeling like you were just following someone else's instructions. But there are also risks: One risk is that you might walk right past a major landmark or must-see site and not even realize it.

And that's almost what I did with my Sevilla Superhike. Thankfully I have the presence of mind to double check on the internet for interesting places to visit around Sevilla.

And whadya know? There's a bigazz entire Roman city ruins just three kilometers off of my Superhike route! And I had no idea that it even existed--until the folks in Coria del Rio mentioned it two days ago.

There's no way that I'm going miss the opportunity to add the ruins of a Roman city to my Superhike. So next morning I'm off before dawn again, taking the bus to Camas (which I visited back in 2010 . From there I'll take a short walk north to Santiponce... and right beyond Santiponce, is the remains of the ancient Roman City, Italica.

Santiponce is an attraction all on it's own. There's an old monastary that you can visit here. It isn't open yet when I arrive--but I decide to wander around until opening time to check it out.

On my way around town I find yet another cool discovery: a large Roman amphitheatre right in the middle of the town. I can't get inside, but I can get a good feel of it by walking all around the perimeter

San Isidoro del Campo Monastary is over 700 years old and has been used during different periods of Spain's religious history. You can see it in the paintings on the walls, with murals painted over the top of murals, painted over other murals.

Here it is said, some of the efforts for translating the Bible from Latin to Spanish took place--something strictly forbidden in that period and which cost some of the monks their lives .

Now San Isidoro is little more than a relic of history... but there is still a dark, mysterious feel abou the place.

The Roman City of Italica

Right up the road, is the entrance to the ruins of Italica, one of the most important Roman cities in this region. And just my luck... today the entrance is free! Considering Spain's economic woes, I almost feel guilty. Almost.

Rome... Pompeii... the Pyramids... visiting a great historical place during a Superhike is a very special thing--and even more special when it's unexpected. Italica may not have the grandeur of these other sites, but I'm really going to enjoy it all the same.

The first main structure is the amphitheatre, which was the 3rd largest in the Roman Empire, seating some 25,000 people. It's pretty decayed--which kind of adds to it's charm, giving it more of an Indiana Jonesish feel with it's crumbling stone, rather than an artificial polished feel . Incidentally, only about 8,000 people lived in the city itself--so folks must have come from far and wide to see the spectacles here.

I try take my guitar videoclip here, but the security guard comes and says it isn't allowed... I do manage to take a more discreet videoclip on the backside of the amphitheatre later on.

Next I head out to explore the city, which is laid out it a perfect gridlike pattern with wide streets and well planned neighborhoods. Not a whole lot left of them today--little more than the foundations. But you can still sort of get the feel for what this city must have been like.

The Emporer Trajan was born here, and he made sure his city of birth got plenty of funding for temples and public buildings. But when the Guadalquivir River shifted its course, the city was left hight and dry.... and gradually became depopulated and forgotten.

Makes you wonder what our modern cities are going to look like in another 2,000 years.