More than 30 of us had an enjoyable day in Carmona on Friday 18th November.
The much needed rain during our journey, stopped for our visit in the Roman necropolis. We started with an interesting short video, with English subtitles and then continued in the museum, where artefacts, which were found during excavations are displayed. We continued into the grounds to look at some tombs. Some brave people, ventured down the ladder to look at the domed mausoleum. We also saw the enormous tomb of a young teenager called Servilia. He father was so distraught that he created a beautiful Mansion with a funeral chamber and chapel area with access in the roof so that her soul could return.
There is also a unique Elephant Tomb, which is a sanctuary to the Gods Cybele and Attis. A statue of an elephant was found in the tomb and is in the museum (we all wondered where they had seen an elephant to make such a statue – maybe they’d seen mammoths).
We then boarded the bus again for the short journey to the walled City where we started at the Cordoba Gate. There were originally 4 gates to the City, now only 2 remain, the other being the Seville Gate which houses the tourist office. We walked along cobbled streets looking at various monuments/buildings including a Convent, a church, a 16th century Palace, a Roman Forum which is unusual in the fact that it is circular rather than the regular square or oblong. We also went to a former Dominican Monastery, now a large market square with many independent businesses around each side. It is a charming place to visit and of course, has a wonderful Parador with stunning views.
It was unfortunate that there were significant road works and therefore diverted traffic but we managed to enjoy it !
Then the sun came out as we finished our guided visit and had lunch.