Time team protecting Roman remains
Experts at work to preserve Calpe's Baños de la Reina and fight-off intrusive plants
EXPERTS are hard at work protecting Calpe’s unique Roman ruins from the elements and nature’s intrusive plant growth.
The specialists were brought in after the archaeological site at Queen’s Baths was declared a protected area of special cultural interest by the regional government in Valencia last year.
Conservation specialists from company Alebus Patrimonio Histórico are working on the conservation and restoration of the coastal site financed by grants from the Alicante provincial government and Calpe town hall.
And the protection and conservation of the Queen’s Baths is all carried out under the watchful eye of Alicia Lujan, the archaeologist responsible for the ongoing ‘dig’.
It is hoped the site will become a visitor attraction and a ‘living’ museum, allowing people to see Roman salt works and homes dating back to the first and second centuries – as well as a large remaining mosaic that lined the floor of a circular terrace of a 4th Century villa, and the early Christian church.
Some of the work is painstaking, individual mosaic tiles are being replaced with a special mortar using a scalpel and tweezers – fortunately the pattern is easy to see. Stonework and traditional dry stone walls are also being restored.
“We have to use natural mortar,” said Alicia. “We are not allowed to use chemicals – the town hall suggested using vinegar but unfortunately that would burn into the ceramics.
“This is a really important site and now it is officially a protected site of special cultural interest, it has the maximum protection allowed.”
Each step taken by the restorers is noted to enable the work to carry on in future. At present the funding is on a rolling four-month contract.
Essential work
“I am really happy at the moment, this is essential work,” added Alicia. “We are being supported by a company that specialises in sites of special archaeological interest; it employs archaeologists that are experts in conservation.
“They know the work involved in the restoration and the conservation of the area. They also catalogue the work that has been done and the materials they have used – that means people know what has actually been done before to allow a smooth continuation.”
Much of the damage caused to the exposed walls and mosaics is caused by plants and especially their roots.
However, new problems also have to be addressed. On site there is rare wild garlic, a protected species from Ibiza and not normally seen on the Costa Blanca – its status means “it cannot just be dug up”.
Alicia added: “There is obviously a limit on what can be done under the current four month project and it will have to be revised on an ongoing basis.”
Councillor Carole Saunders said the town hall was carrying on negotiations with the private owners of the land in an ongoing “battle” over compensation.
“The situation has changed somewhat since the Valencia government declared it was protected land as an area of special cultural interest – it means the regional powers will possibly help over compensation.
“It is an interesting situation. Now the land is protected it will have no obvious value at all to the building industry, it cannot be developed. It has taken over 20 years to get the Queen’s Baths listed as a site of special cultural interest, basically because of court cases and areas that were not in public ownership.”