Remains of the Andalusian and Roman Dénia come to light in the works of La Mar street

The redevelopment works that are being carried out in La Mar street in Dénia have brought to light two important archaeological findings that shed important data on one of the darkest periods of archeology in the city: the urban expansion of Dianium east of the city. promontory of the castle, with synergies and peculiarities in relation to the epicenter of the Municipium, in the area of ​​Hort de Morand, where the forum and the portus are located.

Both discoveries have been made in the plaza where La Mar and Foramur streets converge, in a space of 20 square meters excavated for the installation of buried containers.

The first finding has been that of the fragment of a Roman epigraphic inscription, from towards the 200 of the Era, belonging to a funerary monument. Six lines of incomplete text allow you to restore its content: "To Pompeia Maxima, who lived 36 years. Nonius Victor to his dear wife."

Thanks to this inscription two new names are added to the Roman dianenses who lived between the 2nd and 3rd centuries in the city, Pompeia Maxima and Nonius Victor.

The second finding confirms that a large funduq or alhóndiga, a hostal or hospedería with a square or rectangular floor plan that used to occupy a surface of between 200 and 500 square meters of patio with cistern or central well, was built in that area in the 11th century. deambulatorio porticado in some cases and four bays, with two floors and roof, which surround its perimeter, with distribution of rooms or twin rooms on both floors.

The municipal archaeologist, Josep Gisbert, recalls in his report that "The most relevant funduq for its volumetry, located, just like this one, inside the enclosure of the 11th century medina and also of notable proportions, is the one discovered in the plot of the Marist Brothers College, at the corner of the Cándida Carbonell and Magallanes streets. The remains are kept in situ on the underground floor of the school building, waiting for the City Hall of Dénia to promote a process of restoration and museumization ".

Gisbert says that this space would integrate for centuries the garden and the monastery itself, dedicated to San Antonio de Padua, which would host since its foundation, at the end of the sixteenth century, a Franciscan community. And this space would constitute the maritime façade of the southeast sector of Dianium (5th and 6th centuries) and the Andalusian Medina (10th-13th centuries).