Spain, Roman theater discovered near Cordoba

A recent study entitled The Roman City of Ategua written by archaeologist María del Camino Fuertes and German engineer Cornelius Meyer presents the latest results obtained from geophysical investigations carried out within an archaeological area about thirty kilometers from Córdoba, more specifically on a hill in the hamlet of Santa Cruz. Here a walled city became in Roman times the city of Ategua, a place where in the year 45 B.C. the armies of Julius Caesar and Pompey’s sons Cnaeus and Sextus clashed, fighting for control of Rome. Recent excavations have confirmed the presence of a Roman theater at this site, now managed by the Junta de Andalucía.

The archaeologist explained that a bakery, a section of the cardo maximus, a section of the decumanus maximus, and the foundations of the bleachers of a building used for performances, characteristic of theaters, amphitheaters, and circuses, were found here.

The first studies of the area began in 2018, with the detection of “buildings, roads and structures completely invisible on the surface and in most cases not even intuitable.” Specifically, 76 roads, 59 blocks and at least nine probably Roman buildings were discovered; the city wall surrounding the city was probably 1.7 kilometers long, capable of defending 13.44 hectares of urban fabric, and the cardo maximus, which connected two city gates and passed by the baths, was five meters wide. The excavation then revealed “the presence of a large semicircular structure, 26.66 meters in diameter, open to the north on a triangular-shaped space.” Archaeologists estimate it measured about 2,000 square meters. The building included an exedro wall that “could have been an open plaza or some other type of public building, perhaps of a thermal nature, perhaps of a commercial nature, perhaps of a recreational nature.”

The most likely hypothesis is that it was a theater, with a central space, bleachers and a rectangular space serving as the main stage. “It is a unique place, a real gem that remains to be discovered under the surface of the ground,” Fuertes commented.

Spain, Roman theater discovered near Cordoba

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