The Villa

VILAR DEL MET

Vilanova del Camí

The archaeological site of Vilar del Met stands on a hill on the right bank of the river Anoia, and has the remains of an important Iberian settlement. Later on, a Roman villa was built on the same site and lasted at least four centuries.

The site has been known since the 19th century, and over the last 100 years several excavations have taken place, but always concentrating on small areas than have not allowed an overall view of the site to be constructed.

In this respect, a study conducted by interpreting aerial photographs revealed the existence of structures underground (on the basis of how they affect the growth of cereal crops) spread across the whole hill.

Apart from references to walls and other structures now covered over again, there is detailed knowledge of various silos (2 excavated in 1967 and 8 more between 2007 and 2008) dating from the Iberian settlement which, after being abandoned, were re-used as tips for pottery, iron tools and cut stone weights. All these materials date from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

From Roman times there are abundant pottery remains, including wine amphorae, kitchenware and red varnished crockery (known as terra sigillata ware), as well as coins and other metal and glass items. From the proportions of these materials, the villa seems to have been at its peak in the 1st century AD, with a revival in the 3rd and 4th centuries.

It is therefore a highly complex site with a long timescale.

PLA DE LA TORRA

Santa Margarida de Montbui

In 1978 part of a Roman villa was discovered near the old part of the town of Santa Margarida de Montbui. This includes a private country balneum, where the praefurnium, the caldarium, the tepidarium and the frigidarium can be clearly seen. Some fragments of wall paintings and a large amount of archaeological material were catalogued. Its chronology shows clear Ibero-Roman or Republican Roman antecedents, but the villa itself dates from the 2nd century AD. The site was in use until the early 3rd century, when it seems to have been abandoned. In the course of the 11th and 12th centuries it was inhabited sporadically.