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<\/p>\nThe Arab history of Granada is well known, but many other civilizations left their mark in this beautiful
\ncity. We now turn to the Roman presence in Granada.
\nIn Roman times, the city was crucial to the broader organization of the territory and, at the same time,
\nan efficient means to expand Roman culture and civilization.
\nGranada was no exception. Known to the Romans as \u201cIliberis\u201d, Granada formally became a city around
\n27 A.C. and under the official name of \u201cFlorentia Iliberritana\u201d. The city\u2019s forum and its political,
\nadministrative, religious, and economic centers have been found at the archeological sites that surround
\nthe Minas Square. From there, the city expanded all over the Albaicin.
\nBesides the Albaicin the city included areas for agricultural, livestock farming, and craft activities.
\nArcheologists have found remains of ovens, pots, and agricultural tools, among others, in different
\nlocations of modern Granada such as Cuesta del Progreso, Calle Alhondiga, Calle San Anton, Camino de
\nRonda and Cartuja.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The villa was a very characteristic element surrounding Roman cities. These were large agricultural and
\nfood processing centers that deployed a variety of equipment such as mills, ovens and vessels. Villas also
\nserved as luxury homes for affluent citizens. During the urban expansion of Granada in the 1960s and
\n1970s and the more recent construction of the subway, several villas surfaced, including the ones found
\nin Calle Primavera or in the old central bus terminal. Without a doubt, the most important discovery was
\nthe so-called Villa de los Mondragones, located on the right bank of the River Beiro, on the site of an old
\nmilitary residency. In I D.C., the Villa had a large agricultural production devoted primarily to olive oil,
\nand its mill was found in wonderful conditions. Today, the mosaics of the Villa de los Mondragones can
\nbe visited at the Museo Arqueol\u00f3gico de Granada.
\nThe work of historians and archeologists helps us better understand Granada\u2019s Roman past, yet it is still
\na largely unknown episode in the city\u2019s history. What is this void due to? To answer this question, we
\nneed to go back to the XVIII century and La Ilustraci\u00f3n (Spanish Enlightenment), when interest emerged
\nin learning about history in ways free from legends and traditions. Importantly, this was the period when
\narcheological excavations began in the newly discovered cities of Pompeya and Herculano under the
\npatronage of Charles VII of Naples\u2014future Charles III of Spain (1759-1788). News from these
\nexcavations and their magnificent findings generated immense interest among Europe\u2019s cultural elite,
\nincluding Granada\u2019s.
\nIn the mid XVIII century and amidst this context of great interest and excitement for history, Juan de
\nFlores y Odduz, an expert in history and antiquities of the Classic period, acquired a prominent status in
\nGranada.\u00a0He had found a magnificent Roman mosaic nearby the Minas Square, a site of superior
\narcheological quality with pedestals, capitals, and other Roman objects. His discoveries had a great
\nrepercussion in the city and Flores gained much popularity and status as a result. Emboldened by this
\nsuccess, however, he buried several objects, some of them fake, in some of the excavation sites. When
\nsuch irregularities were discovered, Juan Flores was indicted and, in 1763, sentenced to bury all of his<\/p>\n
findings. Afterwards, Roman Granada was forgotten by most, merely a faint and uncomfortable memory
\namidst a reduced cultural elite. And it remained as such until the second half of the XX century, when
\nhistorians and archeologists turned their interest and studies towards the Roman past of the city in
\nmore systematic ways. It is only because of this most recent work that today we know aspects of Roman
\nGranada, however much more remains hidden underneath its stones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Arab history of Granada is well known, but many other civilizations left their mark in this beautiful city. We now turn to the Roman presence in Granada. In Roman times, the city was crucial to the broader organization of the territory and, at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":25254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2802],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25367,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25365\/revisions\/25367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amc-hoteles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}