
the Church of San Juan, Écija.
'Écija' is a city belonging to the province of
Seville,
Spain. It is located in the
Andalusian countryside, 95 km from the city of
Seville. According to the 2001 census, Écija has a total population of 36,896 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth most populous city in the province. The river
Genil, the main tributary of the river
Guadalquivir, runs through the urban area of the city.
The economy of Écija is based on
agriculture (
olives,
cereals and
vegetables),
cattle (
cows and
horses) and
textile industry. The city has over twenty
churches and
convents, some of them with either
Gothic,
Mudejar,
Renaissance or
Baroque towers, as well as an
Arab fortress.
Roman Astigi
There are several archaeological remains of ancient
Greek and
Roman settlements. Écija was known as 'Augusta Firma Astigi'. Astigi was an important town of
Hispania Baetica, and the seat of one of the four ''conventi'' where the chief men met together at major centers, at fixed times of year, under the eye of the proconsul, to oversee the administration of justice, was also an early seat of a diocese;
St. Fulgentius, bishop of Astigi (died before 633), was named to the see by his brother
Isidore of Seville. Though it was suppressed in 1144, Astigi remains a
titular see in the
Roman Catholic Church [1].
Although Astigi was one of the largest and most complete Roman cities ever to be unearthed, in 1998, mayor
Julian Álvarez Pernía decided to
bulldoze Écija's Roman ruins and replace them with a 299-car
parking lot.
References
★
Astigi Romana
★
Bishops of Astigi: list
★
Catholic Hierarchy: Astigi (titular see)
External links
★
Turismo Écija, in
English.
★
EcijaWeb, in
Spanish.