Abla opens its Roman mausoleum and its cemetery in a day event on Saturday
Topics Almería Universidad de Almería
The IV Jornada de Culto a la Muerte y Patrimonio Funerario leaves Almería on Saturday 14 at 8:30 and tours the Roman mausoleum and the cemetery of Abla.
AlmeríaYa newsroom ·
On Saturday, November 14, there is a trip from Almería to discover the funerary heritage of Abla. Departure is at 8:30 from the Biblioteca Villaespesa and return is scheduled for 17:30 from the town's cemetery.
The programme begins at 9:30 at the Roman mausoleum, located at the entrance to the town, on the main road. At 10:00 there is a guided tour of this 2nd-century monument with Antonio José Ortiz Ocaña, a member of the Instituto de Estudios Almerienses. After breakfast, at 12:00, Ortiz Ocaña speaks about «Las culturas funerarias en la historia de Abla» in the wine cellar of the restaurant «Posá del Tío Peroles».
At 13:00, in the same place, Francisco Javier González Sánchez, from the Asociación Cultural Recreación Histórica Abla Romana, presents a commentary video entitled «Recreación funeraria de Lucio Alfeno Avitiano». After lunch, at 16:15 the group leaves for the municipal cemetery, where at 16:30 there is another guided tour with González Sánchez and Ortiz Ocaña.
A 2nd-century mausoleum at the entrance to the town
The mausoleum of Abla is a funerary tower from the late 2nd century, according to the information available about the monument. It stands as the most important testimony of the Roman municipality of Alba, present-day Abla, which was already mentioned at the end of the 3rd century in the itinerary of Antoninus as a stopping place for travellers on the road that linked Cástulo (Linares) with Málaga passing through Acci (Guadix), Urci (Almería), Murgi (El Ejido) and Abdera (Adra).
From that past as a stipendiary city, obliged to pay taxes to fund the garrison, several tombstones are preserved. The most notable is the pedestal of Avitiano, a stone block next to the ermita de San Antón with an inscription paying tribute to the tribune Lucio Alfeno Avitiano, the same figure to whom the video of the day is dedicated. On the wall of the tower-bell tower of the iglesia de la Anunciación there is also a relief depicting a Roman temple.
The day is organised by the Universidad de Almería, according to its programme. The route includes breakfast and lunch, and departure and return are made as a group from Almería.
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