Museo de la Necrópolis Romana, Seville, Spain

The name Jorge Bonsor is not linked only to the Roman Necropolis and Museum, but also to all of Carmona, a city 20km from Seville where this French citizen once lived. Possessing a fine artistic sensibility, Bonsor wanted to be a painter, and came to Spain in search of its landscapes. He never suspected that his destiny was waiting for him in Carmona, where he would trade in his paintbrushes for archeology. On May 24, 1885 he formed the Archeological Society of Carmona. Among his goals was that of excavating the Roman Necropolis and preserving the findings in a museum. The same day as the founding of the Society he inaugurated the Roman Necropolis and the Museum that remained open to the public with more than 225 tombs. Bosnor and a group of Carmonians were practically pioneers: their museum is one of the first archeological museums in Spain. In addition, concerning the "museumifying" of the Necropolis they were ahead of their time by many decades; it was many years until something similar was attempted in Spain. Despite the toll the centuries have taken, the remains of this ancient Roman cemetery are impressive. There are many significant tombs, but the most noteworthy, for its size, are that of Servilia and the tomb of the Elephant. The latter is a tomb-sanctuary dedicated to the cult of Cybele and Attis.