The archaeological site of the Roman city of Contributa Iulia, designated a Property of Cultural Interest in the category of Archaeological Zone, surprises all its visitors by its optimal degree of conservation and its singular urban layout. Additionally, it was a pioneer among sites, as it was the subject of the first archaeological excavation to be performed in Extremadura in 1845.

Visitors enter the city through one of its original gates, on the west. Flanked by two towers and using white marble as a threshold, the city walls can be seen, the guard’s post and a spring that preserves its lead channel. The commercial area occupies a block on the decumanus maximus, with the anchoring of the gate at the entrance. Several finds have dated the use of this area until the fourth century AD.

The forum is at the crossroads of the decumanus maximus with the cardo maximus. With an area of 600m², an original surface of opus signinum, later paved with marble, it is the location of several buildings that represent the religious and civil life of the town. Of the former, an area identified as sacred possesses a long bench, an altar for offerings and the original floor.

The buildings related to civil life included a group of tabernae in the southern part, but the most important building is undoubtedly the majestic basilica, which is the largest known in the Iberian Peninsula.

Opposite, the ruins of a domus display its different rooms, the peristyle and the impluvium. Outside the walled city, excavations in the area devoted to leisure and spectacles have confirmed the existence of an amphitheatre.

Opposite, the ruins of a domus display its different rooms, the peristyle and the impluvium. Outside the walled city, excavations in the area devoted to leisure and spectacles have confirmed the existence of an amphitheatre.

Near the area used for spectacles, a space that is delimited by a wall around its perimeter contains a pit where a granite votive altar dedicated to the god Fontus and a temple were found. The latter has a rectangular floor plan and a tetrastyle, and still preserves a podium and access steps, as well as remains of red stucco on one of its walls.

Visits:

Free guided visits if reserved in advance at the Town Hall.