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Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona

Interpretation centre

View of a sector of the interpretation centre of the villa at Els Munts.

View of a sector of the interpretation centre of the villa at Els Munts.

This is where the visit to the site begins. It looks into the question of the villas around Tarraco, which was the true centre of political and economic control of the surrounding territory, which was exploited in accordance with the Roman model. The oldest of these villae which depended on Tarraco were founded in the second half of the 2nd century BC. The energy and importance of the city, as well as the local geographical and climatic characteristics, fostered a great density of villas during this occupation process, which lasted until the mid-3rd century.

Also analysed are the history of the villa, its characteristics and the different purposes it served over time, and one of its owners, Caius Valerius Avitus, duumvir of Tarraco, whom we know about thanks to the inscription found in Tarragona. This dignitary left his mark on the villa with a personal seal that was unearthed during excavations conducted in the 1960s and in a mural painting with a commemorative inscription where he appears with this wife Faustina as the owners of the villa and promoters of the construction of a large cistern.

OBJECTS

<p>Painting with an inscription and the figure of the godOcean, 2nd century AD, 160 &times; 94.5&nbsp;cm.&nbsp;Roman villa of Els Munts, Museu Nacional Arqueol&ograve;gic de Tarragona.</p>
Painting with a rendering of O
Painting with a rendering of Ocean
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