Els Munts (Roman villa)

Archaeological site in Spain

The villa of "Els Munts" is a residential Roman villa built during the 2nd century C.E.[1] The villa is located 12 km away from Tarraco in the municipality of Altafulla in Spain.[1] Scholars have regarded the villa of Els Munts as noteworthy for its mosaics[2] and exceptional state of preservation.[3] As a part of Tarraco, the villa of Els Munts is a UNESCO World Heritage site.[3]

## Architecture

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The villa of Els Munts contains several components including a bath, gardens, and temple. In total the villa had a garden, semi-basement corridor with cistern for Caius Valerius Avitus, peristyle, water cistern known locally as "La Tartana", a more extensive water reservoir, dining room (triclinium), the Mithraeum—a temple dedicated to the god Mithras, porticoed corridor. The baths had a reception with an atrium and alcover stone slab floor. There were heated rooms: caldaria, tepidaria, and furnaces with hypocaustum, and cold rooms (frigidaria). A furnace, praefurnia, heated the hot rooms from below. Lastly, there were latrines which excess water from the baths used to remove the excrement.[4][5]

Ruins from the Roman villa of Els Munts, "La Tartana" is a water cistern with a barrel roof.

## History

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The ancient people known as the Iberians were early inhabitants of the region. The Roman historian Livy mentions Tarraco in describing part of the origins of the Second Punic War.[6] The villa was initially built in the 1st century CE, on top of which the remains preserved today were built in the middle of the 2nd century CE.[1][5] Sometime after 175 CE but before 200 CE, a fire burned at villa of Els Munts, and the inhabitants abandoned it.[5]

The owner of the villa was Caius Valerius Avitus, a duumvir for the Roman province of Tarraco. A wall painting at the site indicates this information.[7]

## Location and Geography

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The villa of Els Munts is located in the municipality of Altafulla.[8] Approximately 12 kilometers from Tarraco, modern day Tarragona and near the mouth of the Gayá River, the villa of Els Munts sits atop the western slope of a coastal hill which is part of Cap Roig, the origin of which is the Miocene era.[5] It overlooks the Mediterranean Ocean and is near the Via Augusta.[5]

### Accessibility

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The villa of Els Munts is part of a museum open to the public.[9]

## References

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1. ^ a b c Guiral Pelegrín, Carmen (2010). "La decoración pintada del "cubículo de las estaciones" de la Villa Romana dels Munts (Altafulla, Tarragona)" [The painting of the «Seasons cubiculum» of the Roman villa of Els Munts (Altafulla, Tarragona)]. Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie I, Prehistoria y Arqueología (in Spanish) (3): 127–143\. doi:10.5944/etfi.3.2010.1968. ProQuest 1669855973.
2. ^ Durán Peneda, Mercedes (2000). "Nuevos mosaicos de la villa dels Munts en Altafulla, Tarragona. Apreciaciones iconográficas / Mercedes Durán Penedo". Biblioteca Virtual (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2023.
3. ^ a b "Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
4. ^ "Vila romana de Els Munts". www.catalunya.com. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
5. ^ a b c d e Josep Anton Remolà Vallverdú (January 2009). "La vil· la romana dels Munts (Altafulla, Tarragonès)". academia.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
6. ^ Livy. 21.61. https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10907/pg10907-images.html#c61
7. ^ Arbulo, Joaquín Ruiz de (2014). "El signaculum de Caius Valerius Avitus, duoviro de Tarraco y propietario de la villa de Els Munts (Altafulla)". Pyrenae. 45 (1): 125–151\. ISSN 2339-9171.
8. ^ Catalunya, Agència Catalana del Patrimoni, Generalitat de. "Villa romana de Els Munts". Visitmuseum· Catalonia museums (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2023.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. ^ "The Roman Villa of Els Munts | Site". mnat.cat. Retrieved 15 June 2023.

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Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco

UNESCO World Heritage Site

* 875-001: Roman walls
* 875-002: The imperial cult enclosure
* 875-003: Provincial Forum
* 875-004: The Circus
* 875-005: The Colonial Forum
* 875-006: The Roman Theatre
* 875-007: The Amphitheatre, basilica, and Romanesque church
* 875-008: Paleochristian cemetery
* 875-009: Aqueduct
* 875-010: Tower of the Scipios
* 875-011: Médol Quary
* 875-012: The "Centcelles" villa-mausoleum
* 875-013: The "dels Munts" villa
* 875-014: Triumphal Arch of Berá

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