Discover the archaeological complex of Italica. Colonia Aelia Augusta, founded by the general Publius Cornelius Scipio, known as “the African”, in 206 B.C. after his victory over Hannibal’s Carthaginians in the battle of Ilipa, Italica was actually founded as a residence for the wounded in this battle. Later it became a residential area for patricians and emperors such as Trajan and Hadrian were born here.

Italica controlled the roads between the mining Sierra Morena and the Lower Guadalquivir, distinguishing it from the neighbouring Hispalis, which was a port and trading centre.

The ancient Republican city occupied the hill where the municipality of Santiponce later settled and was endowed with strong walls and public buildings.

The complex that can be visited corresponds to the remains of the great urban expansion carried out in the 2nd century by Hadrian, who gave it the title of Colonia Aelia Augusta.

During the guided tour of Italica you can admire some of the mosaics that are preserved in the complex, such as the House of the Birds or the Planetarium and, of course, the remains of the Amphitheatre, the jewel in the crown of the archaeological complex, which came to be the fourth largest in capacity, 25,000 spectators, of the entire Roman Empire. You will also be able to see how the streets of the city crossed perpendicularly with the transversal streets and that the roads that delimited the blocks of houses, insulae, were arcaded, a system that only has similarities in the Hellenistic Roman east in cities such as Antioch or Palmyra.

The private visit to Italica lasts approximately two hours, during which we will learn about the history and curiosities of this ancient city of the Roman Empire.