Carmona
Day Trip
Occupying a privileged position on an escarpment overlooking the lower Guadalquivir valley, Carmona has been inhabited for 5,000 years. The historic town centre echoes the Iberian, Carthaginian, Roman, Muslim, Jewish and Christian cultures that helped to shape it.
Our Carmona audio tour explains how this long and varied history is reflected in Carmona’s buildings and streets.
Carmona is an easy day trip from Seville. It only takes about half an hour to drive (traffic permitting) and there is a regular bus service (takes approx. 1 hour).
Morning
Historic centre of Carmona
Carmona’s compact old town stretches from the Seville Gate to the Córdoba Gate, just as it did in Roman times, when it was an important municipium along the Vía Augusta, the road from Cádiz to the Pyrenees. Medieval alleyways from the Muslim period are interspersed with elegant mansions dating from the 16th-18th centuries. The Alcázar de la Puerta de Sevilla ($) is the most impressive sight, but the Town Museum ($) and Church of Santa María are well worth a visit.
Stop for a tea or coffee and a torta inglesa at the former Alcázar del Rey Don Pedro, now a Parador hotel, or alternatively at one of the charming (and less pricey) cafés in town.
Alcázar de la Puerta de Sevilla
You’ll most likely enter Carmona’s old town through the Seville Gate. Built around it is the Alcázar de la Puerta de Sevilla fortress. The earliest parts of the construction date back to the Carthaginians, but it was subsequently strengthened and expanded by the Romans, Muslims and Christians. This makes it a microcosm of Carmona’s development over the centuries.
Lunch
Carmona has lots of excellent and good value bars and restaurants. Our favourites include Cervecería San Fernando, Bodega José María and the more formal Molino de la Romera in an atmospheric old olive mill.
Afternoon
Roman Necropolis and Amphitheatre
Carmona’s Roman necropolis was discovered in the 1800s, and became the site of the first proper archaeological dig in Spain. It has literally hundreds of tombs, including the large and elaborate Tomb of the Elephant and Servilia family tomb. You can even go down into some of the tombs.
Just across the road from the necropolis is what’s thought to be the oldest Roman amphitheatre in Spain. It dates from the Republican period in the 1st century BC.
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Questions and answers
Carmona is an easy day trip from Seville. It only takes about half an hour to drive (traffic permitting) or an hour by bus. Carmona was a municipium in Roman times, and it has a long and varied history stretching back thousands of years. Spending the day in the town, you can see echoes of its Iberian, Carthaginian, Roman and Muslim past, along with elegant Renaissance and Baroque mansions.
There is a regular bus service (M-124) between Seville and Carmona, which takes about an hour. See Carmona’s municipal website or the Consorcio de Transportes website for more information.