Santiponce is a small town across the river and 7 km away from Seville. It contains the ruins of the Roman town of Italica. During the Punic Wars, the Roman general Publio Cornelio Escipion established the Roman colony of Italica, in 206 B.C. This was going to be the home of the Roman soldiers who had been wounded in the war. The colony became quite large and important. The Roman Emperor Trajan was born in this city, and his successor, the Emperor Hadrian spent his youth here. The Romans built an amphitheater that could sit 25,000 people. This amphitheater is in a sad state today and much of it has eroded badly. Much stone has been removed and used for building material for the city of Seville. What remains today are some mosaic floors that are still beautiful. One is the Mosaic of Neptune and the other is the Mosaic of the Birds. The most important sculptures and other floor mosaics have been taken to the Archeological Museum in Seville for safe keeping. The city declined with the arrival of the Visigoths, who preferred to live in Seville. When the Moors came, the river changed course and the Moors completely abandoned the place.
Also in Santiponce is the Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo. This is a huge monastery that was heavily fortified and built in 1301 by Alonso Perez de Guzman and Maria Alonso Coronel. Tradition said that this was the place where San Isidoro had been buried. His remains were transferred to Leon in 1063. The huge monastery was built in the gothic style, but has the Mudejar influence. The wall and ceiling paintings are beautiful and impressive, but the monastery needs much more restoration.
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