It is one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in Spain but unlike many of Andalucía’s honeypots, Acinipo is blissfully free of tourists and free to enter!
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Acinipo is believed to have been built during the 9th century BC, abandoned in the Iron Age, and repopulated again in the 5th century BC as an Iberian walled city. It was developed after 206BC, when the Romans arrived and started to build large public buildings. Acinipo soon became a wealthy strategic point between Sevilla, Cordoba, and the coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
It was a prosperous city which minted its own currency and traded with the nearby cities. Its glory days lasted until the second century, when Ronda replaced it as the main city in this mountain area.
As you enter the site of Acinipo, on the right hand side you can see the circular foundations of the prehistoric cabañas, which date back to the iron age. They are the oldest buildings in Acinipo, thought to have been built during the 9th century BC.
These establishments have typical characteristics of the local Iberian population from the end of the Prehistoric age, a round base with a stone plinth, adobe walls and a conic roof made out of dried vegetation. Each house had a small fireplace, used for both cooking and heating the interior during the winter. A stone paved alley led to the door. Inside the houses the archaeologists found remains of Phoenician amphoras with traces of salted fish, proving that the city was connected to, and received trade from, the Mediterranean Coast. You can see the archaeological artefacts found here in the Municipal Museum of Ronda.
The Roman Amphitheatre from Acinipo was built during the 1st century, which makes it one of the oldest still standing in Spain. In its glory days, it used to have a capacity of 2.000spectators, almost half of the population of the city. Built on the highest part of the city, its open sitting area was carved directly into the limestone. After the city’s decline, the amphitheatre was abandoned, and later used as a watch tower during the Moorish occupation.
The Domus is the example of an aristocratic establishment of a wealthy Roman family. Built on two different levels, the rooms were spacious and had their own specific designation. The lower level is believed to have been the kitchen and the storage space. Upstairs there were the rooms where the family would have lived, together with a small altar to the Gods, which was meant to protect the house and its inhabitants. The access from the ground to the first floor was via stairs. It is not known what the top part of the house was used for. It is believed that these houses were abandoned at a later time, when the Roman aristocracy starter to prefer living in the countryside rather than in an urban environment.
In any Roman town of the time, personal hygiene was a very important element of the social life. Acinipo had a large thermal baths complex, with changing rooms, latrines, an open space for physical exercises, hot, cold and temperate rooms. The water was brought in from a nearby source, and the rooms were heated by burning wood underneath the floors. The thermae was also a place for social interaction, where locals would gather to converse with each other.
The first archaeological excavations from Acinipo begun in 1967 but to this day, most of the city remains undiscovered.
Information about Acinipo:
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Music: Jean Dar - Astral Light
Album: Milena 37,2°C
www.jeandar.com
4 окт 2024
