Villajoyosa investigates its Greek gifts from the past
DURING recent restoration work taking place on the façade of Villajoyosa’s fortress church, an archaeological dig was carried out in the southwest corner to find out what the foundations of the building are like, with a view to future interventions.
This survey was directed by the archaeologist Ruth Falcó Martí, and also included archaeological monitoring of the architecture of the façades, to determine their original state and establish, among other things, the colour of the mortars to be used on the façade.
In the excavation under the current paving of the square, at a depth of 30 centimetres a level was uncovered containing human skeletal remains from the 14th to the 19th century.
The remains were badly degraded due to the dampness of the soil.
Below this level, archaeologists discovered a stratum of coloured earth corresponding to adobe and unfired clay bricks.
A similar stratum was identified in 2015 in another area of the square, under the current Casa Hermes aparthotel.
There, archaeologist Ana Martínez documented a small part of a sacred area
from the fifth and fourth centuries BC, located at the highest point of the hill in the old town.
It is believed to have been an urban temple, a complex space with several rooms, remains of red-coloured mural decoration and a bench for offerings, in which unique pieces of great quality, many of them Greek, were found.
Among them was one of the highest quality ceramic statuettes in the province, a young girl's head with petasos (Greek hat).
The building was constructed of mud and adobe walls. Part of the structure and reproductions of some of the pieces have been preserved in situ at the Casa Hermes. Ancient sources mention three Greek colonies in south-eastern Spain – Hemeroskopeion, Alonís and Akra Leuké. Of these, the only enclave whose location is known with certainty is Alonís, in Villajoyosa, as the Roman city retained the name Allon.
There is an important scientific discussion about the character of these settlements, whether they were really colonies or just the presence of Greek merchants or neighbourhoods in indigenous towns.
The wealth, abundance and antiquity of Greek artefacts found in Villajoyosa, together with other indicators, point to the presence of a Greek population in the town.
Councillor for historical heritage, Xente Sebastiá stressed that ‘the importance of the recent survey carried out in the foundations of the church is that it confirms for the first time that the stratum of that Greek colonial period extends over the entire square, more than 600 square metres’.
In 1300, with the creation of Villajoyosa, the centre of the hill was razed to flatten the walls and create a flat surface for the new town, which meant that many ancient strata disappeared, including the Roman levels, in this very square.
The councillor added that ‘miraculously this phase from the fifth and fourth centuries BC was preserved, the future excavation of which will be key to understanding the Greek presence in Iberia, and whether these Greek colonies really existed in the southeast’.