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 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 .
The economy of 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 .
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.
Écija is known in Spain as "La sartén de España" (Spain's frying pan) because it records the highest summer temperatures in the nation.
