First – congratulations to Spain on your deserved win and your first World Cup. May you have many more successful tournaments.
No more football. From Spain’s glory of today to part of its glorious and spectacular past a few thousand years ago at Carteia – one of the most impressive archaeological sites I have seen for some time.
When a new geocache appeared a few miles away just over the border at an archaeological site, we decided to go and explore. Carteia is only open from Wednesday to Sundays, 10-2pm, so Wednesday morning saw us arrive at the car park shortly after 10am.
I wandered through the gate looking for somewhere to pay. There was no-one around so I walked into a building. ‘Hola, buenos dias,’ I said to the air. There was a reply and a smiling man came out of the back.
‘Hay que pagar?’ I asked. No, he said. It’s free. Oh goodie. But as I was walking out he called me back. It turned out it was a conducted tour and the next one was at 11am so we would have to wait. Oh well. I asked for a leaflet about the site and took it outside to read.
Sitting on the bench, I realised that if it was a conducted tour, the geocache was obviously outside the site, not inside, so we might as well go and look for it while we waited for the tour.
I went off to find the man to tell him we would be back for 11am but he had disappeared. Then he reappeared just as suddenly – telling me to wait – and off he went again. Back he came and told us to follow him. So we did.
Next, he jumped into one of those golf buggy things, and told us to sit on the back. We did that too. Then he set off at a roaring pace and I nearly fell off. Note to anyone ever getting on the back of one of those – hold on for dear life. They are very bumpy. In comparison they make a Land Rover look like a Rolls Royce. I know what a Rolls Royce is like having been given a lift some 40 miles down the M1 in one.
Suddenly we stopped. Our guide turned round to us, and told us that we needed to imagine what the area was like nearly 3000 years ago – without the oil refineries, the electricity station, and all the rest of the modern development.
In the 7th century BC, the Phoenicians settled on the nearby Cerro del Prado. Some three centuries later, their descendants established a new settlement at Carteia, on the promontory next to the river Guadarranque with total strategic control across the Straits of Gibraltar.
Carteia’s expansion came when Rome defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars, and the Romans took over the settlement, constructing the typical features of a Roman city – the forum, a temple, the baths, the wide streets, shops and houses.
The Roman soldiers married local women, but neither they nor their children were recognised as Roman citizens. Determined to seek a solution to this problem, Carteia sent an envoy to Rome, and by 171 BC, Carteia was granted the status of free colony, the first one outside Italy.
With the fall of the Roman Empire, Carteia was occupied by the Visigoths (6th century AD), the Arabs (8th century AD) until finally, in the 14th century, it was taken by the troops of Alfonso XI of Castille for Spain.
Approach to the Roman and Punic part of the site
The site of the Roman temple surrounded by the later Visigoth necropolis
One of the fresh water wells used by the inhabitants of the settlement
The 16th century Torre Rocadillo
The tour round the site goes chronologically, starting with the exterior Carthaginian walls and ending in the 20th century with gun batteries from the Second World War pointing towards Gibraltar.
Our personal tour – just the two of us – was around 40/45 minutes, but normally (not including the buggy ride) you should allow around an hour.
If you are interested in archaeology and are anywhere between Gibraltar and Algeciras, it is well worth the trip.
Getting there
By car
If you are driving from Gibraltar, take the road to San Roque and after Campamento, turn off to Puente Mayorga. Follow the road to the end of the village and then over the narrow hump back bridge that crosses what looks like a Dutch canal. Keep following the road through the oil refinery along the coast until you reach the signs for Carteia.
By bus
Take the Yellow Line bus from San Roque. Bus times that fit in with site opening hours are 10am and 12noon. Return journeys from Carteia are at 12.20 and 18.05. Not sure what you would do until 18.05. Sit on the beach?
Oh and we found the cache easily.
Links
ah, got in this time. No idea how.It seems if you are commenting on one blog, after you have finished you have to close the comment window down. Then I could comment again.Waffling there. Ok, thank you for sharing this trip – you would make an excellent History teacher – I actually enjoyed reading your historic bits. Unlike how I remember history at school, which was possibly in the Roman Times.Liked all the photos, very atmospheric. Also would love, love, love to have a go on the Golf Buggy.Glad you found the cache too. A good day out! ;0D
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If I'm ever again in your neck of the woods, I'll try to get there. In the meantime, you might like to keep up with what is happening at one of our local digs, the one on the Peñon de Ifach; (there are two on the go at the moment.) Jose Louis has a blog; he started it last year, and this year's effort started a fortnight ago. http://proyectoifac.obolog.com/
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Looks interesting – I really like visiting old Roman city sites! Did you find the geocache?
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Read the post ;)
It was great, and partly because our excellent tour guide took us right through the start of the site to the most recent WW2 history. But we did spend most of the time on the Roman part of the site as that was the biggest.
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Doh! I skipped the last bit about how to get there because I knew I wouldn’t be!
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Lol. The geocaching part of it was minor. But without it we would never have known Carteia was there! And what a treasure, seriously.
Oh, I remember now, you don’t like the Costa del Sol. Hmm. I guess you need to know where to go. And then there is the wonderful Baelo Claudia up from Tarifa. Although that is the less commercialised Costa de la Luz with golden atlantic sands… If I find my poster I’ll write about it.
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According to the British press the Costa del Sol is burning down right now and Malaga is being evacuated! Any fires near you?
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No, between Marbella and Alhaurin el Grande.
I wrote about bush fires nearer us a few weeks ago.
http://justlandrovers.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/bush-fires/
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This definitely looks more interesting than Wroxeter, Kate. Thanks for the link.
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