Clunia

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Rising building remains in Clunia

The ancient Roman city ​​of Clunia (officially Colonia Clunia Sulpicia ) was one of the largest and most important settlements in the Hispania Tarraconensis province on the Iberian Peninsula .

location

Clunia is located in a hollow of the Alto de Castro plateau in the south of today's province of Burgos at an altitude of about 1030  m ; the Río Arandilla flows about 1 km southeast of the Roman city and ensured its water supply in dry seasons. The ruins are now part of the Peñalba de Castro district of the municipality ( municipio ) Huerta de Rey . The distance to the provincial capital Burgos is almost 90 km (driving distance) in a north-westerly direction; the city of Aranda de Duero is about 35 km southwest. The listed town of Coruña del Conde , in whose buildings many stones from Clunia were reused, is only about 2.5 km (as the crow flies) to the southwest.

history

Although the founding of the city is regularly attributed to the emperor Tiberius (r. 14–37 AD), it is certain that not far from the Roman city as early as the 1st century BC. A Celtiberian or Arevakian settlement named Cluniaco (or Kolounioukou ) existed. Titus Livius reports that this settlement, where coins were already being minted, was founded by the general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in 75 BC. And was destroyed a few years later.

After the end of the Cantabrian War (29–19 BC), Emperor Tiberius had the Clunia, located on the road between Saragossa (Caesaraugusta) and Astorga (Asturica Augusta) , rebuilt larger and more beautiful to reflect the process of Romanization of the north of the Iberian Promote Peninsula. The governor Galba withdrew to Clunia in 68 at the end of the reign of Emperor Nero and accepted the appointment as emperor by the Roman Senate. Possibly Clunia received the nickname Sulpicia after Galba's gentile name Sulpicius , which is only documented on coins.

The city, which received the status of a Colonia under Emperor Hadrian at the latest , continued to develop and had around 30,000 inhabitants at the time of its heyday in the first half of the 3rd century. In the second half of the 3rd century, however, the gradual but ultimately unstoppable decline of the city and the empire began. Germanic-Franconian raiding troops and armies kept pushing into the areas south of the Alps and the Pyrenees in search of booty or a new home . Clunia and other Roman cities in Spain remained inhabited even in the Visigothic period , although the number of inhabitants and the standard of living were far from those of the 3rd century. Little is known about the fate of the city from the Islamic era ; it seems to have depopulated, because in 912 the Leonese King García I gave the order to Count Gonzalo Fernández to take care of its repopulation ( repoblación ). However, the new settlers founded a new settlement not far away called Coruña del Conde , for the construction of which they used stones from Clunia.

Archaeological site

The archaeological site of Clunia has always been known; however, it has only been intensively researched since the 20th century. Excavation campaigns took place in 1915/16, 1931 to 1934 and in the 1950s. It was found that the former urban area comprised a total of around 120 hectares. Although only a few sculptures were found, the consistently geometric floor mosaics are among the most beautiful of their kind in Spain.

geometric mosaic
  • The Roman forum with its rectangular floor plan was located at the intersection of the two main streets Cardo and Decumanus and formed the economic, religious and political heart of the city. It was surrounded by porticoes , but the pillars have disappeared. A temple dedicated to the Roman divine trinity of Jupiter , Juno and Minerva occupied one of the narrow sides. Probably the place for the worship of the emperors was also located here . Opposite the temple was the basilica ; here and under the - probably roofed over and thus protected from sun and rain - porticos, goods were spread out and markets were held. The basilica also served as a representative meeting, reception and courtroom. Most of the restaurants ( tavernae or speluncae ) were in the vicinity of the forum .
  • The city's residential buildings encompass a wide range of structures - in the center there were stone and mosaic-adorned villas as well as multi-storey apartment buildings. All kinds of handicraft businesses built from clay or half-timbered houses, to which mostly small sleeping quarters were attached, were mainly found in the outskirts of the city. In some cases, shops for more exclusive goods (precious fabrics, glasses and metal objects, etc.) were built in front of the villas in the center.
  • The thermal baths were originally located near the forum; later - because of the fire hazard - a new and larger thermal complex was built outside the city. They were used for personal hygiene and at the same time were an important social meeting point in every Roman city - private and business matters were discussed here; in addition, one could indulge in all kinds of amusements (food and wine, but also games and prostitution).
  • The cemetery ( necropolis ) was also just outside the city in a northeastern direction . Only a few grave goods were brought to light here, but a mighty stump made of cast masonry ( opus caementitium ) is still visible from afar. It probably belonged to a grave monument, the cladding of which was removed and otherwise reused (e.g. for the production of lime).
  • On a slope in the south of the Roman city is the semicircle of the theater of Clunia Sulpicia , which was probably built in the 1st century AD , but was rebuilt in the 2nd century so that gladiator fights etc. could also take place here (see Theater / Amphitheater of Lixus , Morocco). In the provinces in particular, classical theater performances hardly found an audience, while comedic or acrobatic performances were clearly more popular.
Ermita from the west
Ermita from the southwest

hermitage

In the 16th or 17th century a chapel (Ermita de la Virgen de Castro) was built in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of Clunia , for the construction of which mainly stone material from the old Roman city was used. The church has a porch ( portico ) consisting of three segmental arches in the west; a small bell gable (espadaña) rises above it . A square apse completes the single-nave building to the east.

See also

Other important Roman cities on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands were:

Spain
Acinipo , Asturica Augusta , Baelo Claudia , Caesaraugusta , Cáparra , Carranque , Cauca , Complutum , Corduba , Emerita Augusta , Hispalis , Italica , Juliobriga , Saguntum , Segobriga , Tarraco , Titulcia
Portugal
Conimbriga , Évora
Mallorca
Pol lèntia

literature

  • José Antonio Abásolo Álvarez: Las vías romanas de Clunia. Diputación Provincial de Burgos, Servicio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas 1978, ISBN 84-600-1166-6 .
  • Pedro Barceló : Clunia. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 .
  • María Ángeles Gutiérrez Behemerid: La decoración arquitectónica en la Colonia Clunia Sulpicia. Universidad de Valladolid, Secretariado de Publicaciones e Intercambio Editorial 2002, ISBN 84-8448-241-3 .
  • Pedro de Palol : Clunia. Guía de las excavaciones y de la ciudad romana. Diputación Provincial de Burgos. Servicio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas 1969, ISBN 84-500-7763-X .
  • Pedro de Palol: Clunia. Historia de la ciudad y guía de las excavaciones. Diputación Provincial de Burgos. Junta de Castilla y León 1994, ISBN 84-86841-35-6 .
  • Pedro de Palol, Josep Guitart i Durán: Los grandes conjuntos públicos: el foro colonial de Clunia. Diputación Provincial de Burgos 2000, ISBN 84-86841-77-1 .
  • Pedro de Palol, José Vilella: Clunia II. La epigrafía de Clunia. Ministerio de Cultura. Dirección General de Bellas Artes y Archivos. Subdirección General de Arqueología y Etnografía 1987, ISBN 84-50582-71-7 .
  • David Pradales Ciprés: La romanización de la Meseta Norte: Burgos, Clunia. Cajacírculo 2005, ISBN 84-89805-17-2 .

Web links

Commons : Clunia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 41 ° 47 ′  N , 3 ° 22 ′  W