Carmona must have something when these lands located in the center of the province of Seville were already inhabited five millennia ago. No more and no less than 5,000 years of history are attested to in this Andalusian city. Few sites in Spain boast such a distant past originating in the Neolithic. It would be then when the first people would settle on the same hill of Los Alcores where the population remains today. Ideal place to dominate the fertile surrounding countryside at will.
Then the culture of the legendary Tartessos would arrive in these places. Later the Carthaginians fortified it, which the Romans later took advantage of to turn it into an impregnable-looking bastion, or at least that’s what Julius Caesar himself believed. History continued with the Visigoths and the arrival of the Muslims who built mosques and fortresses, while the Jews built their synagogue. And they were all succeeded by Christians with countless churches and palaces that give the monumentality of current Carmona.
The center of Carmona invites you to walk through its history and discover all the overlapping layers of cultures and religions. A good place to start this experience is the Puerta de Sevilla fortress. And not only because the tourist office is there or because it is the traditional entry route for those arriving from the capital of the province, only 30 kilometers away. In addition to that, it is one of the monuments that best narrates the city’s past.
Back in the 8th century BC. C. the Carthaginians took advantage of a previous Phoenician tower to build the city’s first defensive bastion here. That was the basis for a construction that the Romans would expand, even adding a temple within the fortification. There are remains of that visible, although very transformed since it later became a Muslim fortress and fortress of King Peter I the Cruel. It is a spectacular complex where the patio of the Aljibes or the rooms of the Prisoners await. And it invites you to conquer its towers, perfect for viewing the tile and lime hamlet of Carmona dotted with domes, bell towers or belfries of convents and churches.
The closest are the parishes of San Pedro and San Bartolomé, but there are many more. Among them, the priory church of Santa María stands out, the great temple of the town for centuries. Even in Muslim times, since the Aljama mosque of Qarmuna was located on this same site, whose patio is still preserved. For this reason and for mixing Gothic architecture with Baroque decoration, with the main altarpiece as the maximum exponent, today, the building is a jewel of Andalusian heritage.
A step away from Santa María is the Plaza de San Fernando. The place of meeting and celebration since ancient times, since the remains of the Roman forum were found here. One of the many sites that emerge in the subsoil of the municipality, and as occurs with the findings of the necropolis or the amphitheater that is beyond the gate of Seville or near the Via Augusta that passes through the town, they are vestiges which are kept, investigated and exhibited in the Municipal Museum of Carmona.
The museum is essential to learn not only about the city’s Roman past, but also its entire history. In fact, even the building is part of that heritage. The exhibition occupies what were stately rooms of the palace of the Marqués de las Torres, a work from the 16th century that combines the Mudejar tradition with the incipient Renaissance art of that time.
This was not the only palace that was built. In a bunch of streets appear the palace of the Marquis of San Martín, that of the Ruedas or the palace house of Don Alonso Bernal Escamilla. And the interesting thing is that a large part of these mansions are still alive. For example, the Domínguez palace is the headquarters of the municipal archive, or the Briones house hosts courses at the Pablo de Olavide University in the summer, while the Lasso palace and even the old Queen’s palace have been converted into accommodation.
The reason is that tourism grows and grows in Carmona. So its heritage adapts to the new vein. Not only palaces become hotels or cultural spaces. It also happens with other types of buildings, such as the Romera mill, a large oil mill of medieval origin transformed into a prestigious restaurant with the most typical dishes of the area.
In reality, Carmona gives the sensation of keeping an almost inexhaustible heritage for lovers of history, art and traditions. It is possible to cross the monumental Córdoba Gate, opened in the time of Emperor Augustus, but with a current appearance between baroque and neoclassical, the result of a reform in the 18th century. The same century that the Church of El Salvador was built, another of the temples that add to the rich religious architecture of Carmona. A complex in which the Misericordia y la Caridad hospital draws attention, where in the past the sick were cared for free of charge.
And next to this charitable hospital is the convent of Santa Clara, the first in the city and still inhabited by the Poor Clares. But these nuns no longer live in strict cloister. As a sign of the new times, they open their temple to tourists. And although they keep the old wheel through which they previously sold their cakes made in the traditional Arab bakery, they now offer their products in a small shop at the entrance to the premises. Renewed or die!