[Nov. 2021] Although the destination of the bus we took from Carmona was Cordoba on our trip in the Andalusia region of Spain, our destination was Ecija.
Ecija is a town about 54 kilometers east of Carmona, and according to the guidebook, the temperature gets so high that it is called “Andalusian frying pan”, and it has recorded 52 degrees centigrade.
The view from the bus window was flat, and even I, a paper driver, could drive.
On the way, there was a huge utility pole which looked like something from space emitting intense light, and when the bus approached, it turned out that it seemed to be a solar power generation device.
Andalusia must be one of the meccas of solar power generation in the world, where it is said that more than 300 days a year are sunny days.
We arrived at Ecija, a town much larger than Carmona, with a population of about 40,000.
We were dropped off at a bus station on the outskirts of town.
We relied on the map on our mobile phone and walked to the accommodation in the centre of the town.
It was quite a distance.
Ecija seemed a lively town with lots of traffic.
Unlike the quiet Carmona, you can still feel the lives of people in the old town.
Our accommodation here was a guesthouse named La Casa en el Centro.
When we entered a lovely gate, we found a nice patio, and one part of the building surrounding it was the guest house.
Our room was on the first floor, climbing up the steep stairs on the left side.
When we opened the old-fashioned door which was not easy to open or close, we found a bedroom with tiled floors.
It was a room in the traditional house as it was and it was cute and interesting.
There was a bathroom on the right side, but it was a rather spacious room, and there was a small space with a curtain in one corner, and there was a toilet and a shower there.
I wondered if there used to be a bathtub in this large space in the past?
It was a light cloudy day and it was chilly, though Ecija is famous for its high temperature as I said, so we turned on the air conditioner.
After taking a break, we went to the tourist information centre in the neighborhood to get the map and to check the opening times of the highlights.
Then, we wanted to have lunch immediately, but as usual, the opening time of the restaurant which was supposed to be open all day was limited, so we went into the museum first.
The tourist information centre is also in this building of Museo Historico Municipal.
The highlight here is the Amazon statue.
The kind woman at the tourist office told us that it was one of the only four Roman Amazon statues in the world, and the remaining three were in Berlin, Copenhagen, and New York.
Unlike the others, this one is characterized by a little colour remaining.
I heard an English audio guide, and according to it, this Amazon was injured in the battle and she is bravely dying.
Apparently it was discovered in 2002 when they were trying to build a car park in the basement of Plaza de Espana, the central square of the town.
Other than that, the museum was showing Roman mosaics found inside and outside of Ecija and some historical artifacts, but what attracted me was the luxury of the building itself.
The museum is in an 18th century mansion called Palacio de Benameji.
Especially the design of the entrance was wonderful.
The stairs and patio also looked great.
