Usuario:Maayteee/Taller

Roman Villa of the Villaricos

The Villaricos site, located 5 km east of Mula (Murcia), is a clear example of the rural settlement model in Roman times known as villae. There is the largest excavated oil mill in Spain.​

History

The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula led to the emergence of new settlements where a new settlement pattern called villas was established in rural areas. They are single-family units used for the collection, processing and storage of agricultural products. They were distributed throughout the peninsula and we also find them in the area of ​​Mula, birthplace of Los Villaricos, which developed between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. Located next to the Pantano de la Cierva road, it is an important example of this type of settlement.

The Roman villa is divided into two parts. Residential area: Around the central courtyard there is an area with hot springs and family rooms; Work area: There is an oil mill to extract, prepare and store oil or wine.

When the villa was abandoned, the living room became a place of worship and two of its rooms became a cathedral-like building with many tombs around it.

The city was abandoned around the 4th century AD. C., the residential area is occupied by a series of tombs in relation to the rest of the inhabitants of the area, who apparently worshiped in a large urban space that was transformed into a cathedral. So far about 50 graves have been recorded near the cathedral. The shells of some tombs were made of fragments of pottery and tiles. The tombs date from the 5th and 7th centuries AD. C. During the excavations, several fragments of branches with Christian iconography were discovered and, most importantly, the presence of a large number of tombs in the area adjacent to the building demonstrates that this area was reused as a place for Christian services.​

Areas

• Thermal Area

Baths (balnea) spread to the Roman countryside of Spain in the 19th century. AD, generalized to the entire territory of the peninsula in the 2nd century AD. Since it was not possible to bathe daily in public hot springs in the city, the presence of these spas was an important part of the town.

The floor plan of the Los Villaricos thermal building is divided into two parallel blocks, corresponding to the cold bath area to the north and the hot room and its service areas to the south and west. Most spas have a typical operating scheme where the cold baths (cold baths), the tepidarium (hot baths) and the warm baths (hot baths) are connected to each other more or less linearly and according to the distribution of the room, a change that mimics the swimmer's own journey. ​

• Residential area

The urban or dominican pars was the most noble part of the town, the area where the dominus (lord) lived with his family, guests and even servants. It is a housing scheme that largely replicates that of Mediterranean houses, with a central patio surrounded by an orderly gallery of rooms with various functional distinctions, also typical of large domus (houses).

Its owners usually lived here in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. During these centuries, the city combined a productive and even industrial character with the sale of these products. In the 3rd century AD they would become the last residence of the owner and his family, thus witnessing the urbanization of the town, where the domus (house) would reflect the more or less influential dominus (lord) of the new provincial nobility, with a character rural, since developed in the West.

Transformed into magnificent settlements, these villas would reflect the changes in architecture, art, economy and social norms that prevailed in the countryside. ​

Architecture and construction

It consists of a large building with numerous rooms dedicated to different functions, among which we distinguish residential areas with elegant geometric mosaics and thermal complexes, as well as industrial and work areas, especially the oil mill or Torcularum, the press area, oil pipelines and warehouses.

Due to its reuse and modification from the end of the 1st century AD, to the end of the 5th century AD, the place underwent several changes, the most notable of which was the conversion of the room to display a fund (probably with a religious function) and more later a burial place.

The city was perfectly connected by land (Camino Viejo de Yéchar) or river (Río Mula) with the Cartago Nova Complutum highway axis. This strategic location is important for a quick and convenient exchange of goods and trade. ​

Location: How to get there

From Murcia we advance along the Northwest Highway (C-415) towards Mula-Caravaca.

After driving 30 kilometers, we find exit 20 called Mula Centro-Puebla de Mula and follow the road from Mula to Yéchar towards Mula (MU-530), we cross the Northwest Highway and pass through the roundabout where we take the first exit towards Cierva Swamp. After traveling 500 m we will arrive at the place. ​

The place is located exactly on Carretera del Pantano, s/n, 30170 Mula, Murcia. ​

Timetable

Visits will be made by appointment at the tourist office or by calling 968 661 501.

The general admission fee is 4 euros. The reduced rate (unemployed, pensioners and large families), 2 euros and the one for children under 12 years old is free. ​