On our way out of Seville we took a slight detour and
visited the Roman remains called Italica at Santiponce. This large site was once an important Roman
town and although there is little more than low walls showing where the
buildings were there are several well preserved mosaics.
The most impressive structure still surviving is the
amphitheatre – once the third largest in the Roman Empire. Though it has crumbled away in places, the
tiers of seats, rooms for the Gladiators and the wild animals, the arena and
many passageways are all still visible and accessible. Even after 2000 years you can still almost
hear the shouting of an excited crowd!
We ended up staying at El Rocio for eight days. The town is like something from a Western
film with the roads all covered with several inches of loose sand. Many riders from around the area often
congregate here with their horses at weekends, creating quite a spectacle.
Having visited briefly two years ago we knew what to expect
and only cycled down the (tarmac) by-pass and along the lovely paved promenade
by the lake. The main attraction of the
area is the Doñana National Park – a huge wetland area set among pine
forest and scrub – which attracts huge numbers of migratory birds including
flamingos.
There are pleasant walks and several hides just a short
cycle ride from the campsite. We made good use of them and I won’t bore you by
listing all the different birds we saw or posting all the photos but I was
rather pleased to “capture” a stork taking off with a mouthful of nesting
material.
While staying at El Rocio we drove to nearby Niebla which,
surprisingly, is not in the guide books but has substantial, well preserved
walls round the old town. This was the first place in Europe that gun powder
was used for military purposes.
Leaving El Rocio we began our unhurried northward journey
with several places that we wanted to see on the way. After a couple of nights wild camping we
came to Riotinto where the mining company of the same name was established and
run by the British from the mid nineteenth century till it closed down about
twenty years ago. Minerals containing
such things as copper, silver, iron and even mercury have been mined in this
area for about 5000 years. The more
recent mining was all open cast and has left huge craters with a strange sort
of beauty.
The name Riotinto comes from the Rio Tinto river whose source is in
amongst the mines and whose water really is red because of the dissolved
minerals.
The mining museum was very interesting with a reconstruction
of a Roman mine and numerous displays including a luxurious narrow gauge
railway coach built for Queen Victoria.
There was also the mine manager’s house built in a very English style
and furnished as it would have been early in the last century.
We stayed three nights near Aracena and were able to go for
some lovely walks in the surrounding National Park. This is a largely unspoilt
part of Spain with white villages and small towns scattered among the wooded
hills. This is Almonaster la Real .
The next town on our route was Mérida with more Roman remains
than any other town in Spain. Among them
is the Temple of Diana which served not only as a place of worship but as the
judicial and administrative centre of the area.
It has subsequently had many uses including having a palace built among
the columns. This actually preserved
them very well!
We spent a night on the very popular aire a short distance
away at Cáceres of which the guide book was fairly dismissive but which we
found to have a pleasant unspoilt walled old town. Unusually the Cathedral has an elaborate
reredos behind the altar made entirely from wood without any gold or silver ornamentation.
Not far away are the remains of a very impressive Roman
bridge.
We then went to an excellent campsite on the edge of the
Monfragüe
National Park. From there we have been
able to drive and walk into the park and see Griffon Vultures like this one,
also Black Vultures, Egyptian Vultures, Eagle Owl, Black Stork,
Azure Winged Magpies and Serin to name but a few.
Returning to the site we had an unexpected visitor!
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