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Carmo (Carmona)

Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
Carmo is a very ancient town, probably founded by the Iron Age native population of Andalusia, which is usually called "Tartessian". The Carthaginian presence on the Costa del Sol must have been the incentive towards urbanization. The walls of the city contain traces of Carthaginian masonry. It must have been hard to take, as the city is based on a steep plateau.

After the Roman conquest in the late third century BCE, and the problematic years after the Second Punic War in which Andalusia had to adapt itself to different rulers, Carmo became an important production center for olive oil. In the two, three first centuries of the Roman Empire, Andalusian oil was transported to the city Rome on a really massive scale.
This first picture shows the Porta de Sevilla, which is essentially a Roman construction. It is situated in the east of the town, and the road lead to Italica and Hispalis, modern Seville. This is another gate of Carmona, the Porta de Córdoba, the western access to the town, where the road to Astigi (Écija) and Corduba began. The foundations of the two octagonal towers date back to the Roman age.
West of the Porta de Sevilla -at some distance- are the remains of an amphitheater (a satellite photo can be seen here). It was discovered in 1885 but not fully excavated until the 1970's. Like the amphitheater in Syracuse, it is partly cut into the rocks, and on several sites, smaller structures were added. Postholes betray that there used to be several wooden structures as well.
To the south of the amphitheater was a large necropolis, which is a good reason to visit the small town. It consists of Tartessian funerary monuments and Roman tombs, which all share one characteristic: that the body of the deceased is buried in a bent position, with the head always facing the west. At end of the first century CE, cremation and other customs became common.
The circular tomb (photo above and left) resembles Etruscan tumuli, or grave mounds: it must have looked like a low hill, with a vaulted chamber carved out in the rock. This 
The Tomb of the Elephant is named after a little stone statue of the well-known animal, which was found inside. It may in fact have served as a sanctuary as well, because it contains depictions of Anatolian gods like Cybele (the "Great Mother") and Attis.
Here is one of those statues. To the left and right, you can see the banks on which people came together to join the celebrations.
One of the burial rooms.
As far as we know, the Tomb of Servillia is the most monumental tomb of the Carmona necropolis. There was a courtyard, which was surrounded by porticos, where many statues were discovered, now in the museum near the excavation and in the Archaeological Museum of Seville. This was not just a tomb, but a monumental display of wealth of one of Carmo's leading families.
Here you see the spacious courtyard.
The portico gave access to a doorway and a small antechamber with a beehive-like vaulted roof, which in turn gave access to the burial place itself.
Here you can see the niches for the urns, and traces of frescos.
Finally, a photo of a bust of Mars, the Roman god of war. It is now in the Archaeological Museum of Seville.
© Jona Lendering for
Livius.Org, 2007
Revision: 28 May 2007
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