ECIJA  , a

town of southern Spain, in the province of Seville; on the Cadiz-Cordova railway and the left bank of the river Genii . Pop . (1900) 24,372• The river, thus far navigable, is here crossed by a fine old bridge; and the antiquity of the town betrays itself by the irregularity of its arrangement, by its walls and gateways, and by its numerous inscriptions and other relics . Its chief buildings include no fewer than twenty convents, mostly secularized . The principal square is surrounded with pillared porticoes, and has a fountain in the centre; and along the river bank there runs a fine promenade, planted with poplar trees and adorned with statues . From an early period the shoemakers of Ecija have been in high repute throughout Spain; woollen cloth, flannel, linen and silks are also manufactured . The vicinity is fertile in corn and wine, and cotton is cultivated . The heat is so great that the spot has acquired the sobriquet of El Sarten, or the " Frying-pan " of Andalusia . Ecija, called Estija by the Arabs, is the ancient A stigis, which was raised to the rank of a Roman colony with the title of Augusta Firma . Ac-cording to Pliny and Pomponius Mela, who both wrote in the 1st century A.D., it was the rival of Cordova and Seville . If local tradition may be believed, it was visited by the apostle Paul, who converted his hostess Santa Xantippa; and, according to one version of his life, it was the see of the famous St Crispin (q.v.) in the 3rd century .