Contributa Iulia archeology site

The archaeological site of the Roman city of Contributa Iulia, declared a Site of Cultural interest in the archaeological area category, is a unique attraction. It is particularly well conserved and offers a unique glimpse of Roman urban planning. What's more, it's also a pioneering site that is that was the scene of the first archaeological excavations to be carried out in Extremadura in the year 1845.

The visitor enters the city through its original western access gate. The gate is flanked by two towers and a white marble lintel as a threshold, the city walls are also on display along with the guard building and a fountain that still conserves its lead piping. Walking up the decumanus maximus, we find the commercial area or macellum, occupying an entire block. The door fixings here are a particular highlight. A number of findings have allowed for the use of this space to be dated back to the 6th century AD.

At the crossroads of the decumanus maximus and the card, we find the forum. With 600 square metres and first paved with opus signinum and later paved over with marble, the forum was home to a number of different buildings that give us an idea of religious and civil life in the city.

In terms of religious life, there is a building identified as a holy area that still retains a continuous bench, an altar for offering and the original flooring.

The buildings relating to civil life include a cluster of taverns to the south, although there is no doubt that the outstanding building of the complex is the majestic basilica, which is the biggest found to date on the Iberian Peninsula. Compared to that we can find the remains of a domus where visitors can identify a number of rooms, along with the columned porch or peristyle and the sunken atrium or impluvium.

Outside the wall perimeter was the leisure and entertainment area where excavations have confirmed there was a theatre.

Close to this leisure area there is an open space delimited by a wall that houses a well where a temple and a granite ara votiva was found, dedicated to the god Fontano have been found. The temple had a rectangular floor plan and portico and still retains its podium, its entrance staircase and the remains of the red stucco on one of the walls.

Free guided tours booked through the Local Council.