Via Sepulcral Romana
Via Sepulcral Romana ( Catalan for " Roman funeral street ") is an excavation site in Barcelona . It is located in the old quarter of Barri Gòtic on today's Plaça Vila de Madrid . There, in the 1950s, the graves of 85 people were discovered who had died between the 1st and 3rd centuries of the Christian era .
History and meaning
In the Roman settlement of Barcino (core of the later city of Barcelona) it was forbidden to bury the dead within the city limits. Therefore, the funerals took place along the arterial roads. The road now known as Via Sepulcral Romana probably led towards Sarrià . The graves were about 250 meters outside Barcino.
The peculiarity of the excavation site is that the graves were rediscovered in an unusually good condition, as they had been " conserved " in a natural way : the road was no longer used after the 3rd or 4th century. The reason for this was probably that it was a rather insignificant road, which was also often flooded - as a result, sediments were deposited . The graves were completely buried in the course of time and were forgotten. This overlaying of sediments meant that the tombs were very well protected against destruction, weathering and decay. At other Roman burial sites in Barcelona, the graves were often destroyed over the centuries and the tombstones used as building material.
From 1588 a monastery of the barefoot Carmelites was built in the area . The area was now within the new city walls from the 13th century. In the 20th century the now uninhabited and completely dilapidated monastery was demolished. Instead, the Plaça Vila de Madrid was built there with its perimeter development of residential buildings in the classicist style.
It was not until 1954 that the ancient burial site was discovered by chance during earthworks, about 5 meters below today's street level. Another archaeological dig was carried out in 1956. A total of 85 graves were found, which differ mainly in their covers: 6 of them have a cupa ( Latin for "barrel"): the cylindrical cover symbolizes a lying barrel under which the deceased's personal belongings were stowed. Offerings could be brought into the grave through an opening in the cupa . 59 other graves have much simpler covers and 20 graves have none at all. From the lack of luxury, the scientists were able to deduce that mainly people from the middle and lower classes were buried there.
The archaeological site was included by the Catalan regional government in the register of “cultural assets of national importance” (Catalan: béns culturals d'interès nacional ) and is therefore a listed building.
Museum quality
The excavation site is an external location of the Historical Museum of Barcelona (MUHBA) . Since it is located in a public square, it can be viewed free of charge at any time: A modern bridge at today's street level leads the visitor along above Via Sepulcral so that the graves can be seen below. On Tuesdays and Sundays, the facility can also be viewed directly below the bridge (for an entrance fee). There is also the Center d'Interpretació (Interpretation Center), where you can find out more details about the excavations and in which finds from the graves are shown.