This afternoon, after lunch at Mesón Olalla next to the Metropol Parasol, Jerry and I finally went underground to pay a visit to the Antiquarium Sevilla, the new museum space created beneath the public market and Metropol Parasol. It was the first time we used our residency cards, which get us in to local attractions free of charge!
Later in the day, those cards also got us FREE flu shots. Jerry and I were slammed simultaneously in 1990 with debilitating cases of the flu. I would get hit hard every year, but was always used to having Jerry there to take care of me. (He’s a great nurse.) We’ve gotten our shots ever since.
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| BREATHTAKING MOSAICS. |
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| THE REMNANTS OF ONE OF SEVERAL HOUSES. |
But, back to antiquities. The city had plans to build a large parking garage on the site until exploratory digging (they are very careful to check before anything new is built) led to the discovery less than 10 years ago of ancient ruins dating back to the time (around 150 BC) when Sevilla was known as the Roman city of Hispalis and the Emperor Tiberius was in power.
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| TOUCH-SCREENS WITH ANIMATION THAT “REBUILDS” ANCIENT HOMES AND STREETS. |
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| ALL BENEATH THE CONTEMPORARY METROPOL PARASOL AND PUBLIC MARKET. |
The design is another brilliant juxtaposition of the old and the new in this amazing city. The antiquarium opened in April and is spectacular, although clearly not completely finished — no brochures; no gift shop; an empty gallery soon to be filled with household goods found at the site; nothing yet in English, German, French, Italian, and other languages for international visitors.
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| FROM 150 BC. THE LARGEST ROMAN FISH SALTING VATS (SALAZONES) FOUND IN SPAIN. |
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| MOTION-SENSITIVE LIGHTING. GLASS FLOORS TO EXPOSE FOUNDATIONS AND SEWER SYSTEMS. |
Included in the museum are breathtaking mosaics beautifully preserved. The Antiquarium takes us through time from the very ancient Roman ruins to more modern areas dating from the 2nd century AD and on. The most recent structure found here is a 12th-century house from the time of the Moors.
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| MORE BEAUTIFUL, AND PAINSTAKINGLY PRESERVED, MOSAIC WORK. |
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| HEADING BACK OUTSIDE. |
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Author: Moving with Mitchell
From Brooklyn, New York; to North Massapequa; back to Brooklyn; Brockport, New York; back to Brooklyn... To Boston, Massachusetts, where I met Jerry... To Marina del Rey, California; Washington, DC; New Haven and Guilford, Connecticut; San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Santa Barbara, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Irvine, California; Sevilla, Spain. And Fuengirola, Málaga..
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Wow! Incredible! What a fascinating city you live in. Thank you for taking me on a tour. I love your blogs.
Those mosaics are amazing. Although the purple lights look like the backdrop of Solid Gold.
Have a great weekend!
m.
Isn't it just mind numbing as to how old it is. 150BC After a while I normally get overloaded on history. Ask Bear… he has a lot of funny stories to tell. Well funny now, they were not so haha at the time. xox
Jo:
How great to see you here! Thanks!
Mark:
The purple changes to blue and then to rose. Very disco.
Nubian:
You're just much too young to have to have to take in so much ancient information. But I'm finding these dates more meaningful when I can actually see the history; the info seems to be sticking in my brain this time around.
I'm loving this stuff, but I'm having a hard time sitting in front of the computer for more than a few minutes at a time… Ugh. Fear not! I'm still making the blog rounds, albeit a bit slower than normal.
I enjoy old roman ruins (as opposed to new roman ruins).
This is fantastic, between you and wcs, I have the benefit of being an deskchair tourist.
This is great that your residency card benefits can be shared with your readers!
soon, tim
What an amazing, fascinating city you live in.
Walt the Fourth:
Hope you're up and around — and able to sit for extended periods of time — soon. And thanks for stopping by in your misery.
I, too, prefer the old 'Roman ruins' to the new ones. But I don't think either of us have a bias against old Romans in general.
Theaterdog:
I am just so excited about flashing that card around town. And I'm glad to share.
Judith:
It is a love fest.
This is literally breathtaking! I love this….being an archaeology major in university, this would have been a dream job! Maybe my next life!
Thanks for sharing this Mitch. Guess I'll be googling this for the rest of the day!
Jim:
I hope you can see this some day. It IS breathtaking. Now I can't wait to get to Carmona and Italica and share what I see there. Thank you so much!
This is a great post so incredibly interesting what a fabulous city you live in. Thanks for the pictures.
the cuby poet:
Thanks for allowing me to share it… and for enjoying it. It makes me appreciate all of this even more.
I've been in Seville twice and loved it both times. Thank you so much for the wonderful Roman remains pictures — I love the discovery and preservation of antiquities.
Will:
I am so looking forward to visiting both Italica and Carmona.