Carranque is a town in the Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is located in the area of the province bordering the

province of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

called the ''Alta Sagra''.

Archeological park

Carranque contains the site of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

that is protected as an archeological park by the Castile-La Mancha government. There are three main buildings visible by above-ground remains, the ruins of a Roman mill and a modern interpretation building. It is located by the River

Guadarrama Guadarrama is a town and municipality in the Cuenca del Guadarrama comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Its population is 17,063 according to the Continuous Register of 2023; the population swells to approximately 60,000 in summer. In th ...

, near a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

. It seems to be near the lost city of Titultiam. In 1983 a local peasant, Samuel López Iglesias, found a series of

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

floors while plowing in the fields known as ''las Suertes de Abajo''. The buildings date from the late fourth century and are thought to belong to a "Villa of Maternus Cinigius", the uncle of

Theodosius I, Roman emperor Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene ...

, born in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

, but presently the owner is still unknown. The interpretation facility exhibits objects found during the excavations.

Buildings

Building A: Basilica

A Theodosian-era building that takes as models the governors' palaces. The hall was surrounded with 32

monolithic A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Monolith or monolithic may also refer to: Architecture * Monolithic architecture, a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated f ...

marble columns from the emperor's private quarries in

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

in Greece (known as or chium) and Iscehisar and

Afyon Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

in Anatolia ( phygium or

pavonazzeto Pavonazzo marble, also known as Pavonazzetto, Docimaean marble or Synnadic marble, "Book 9, chapter 5, section 16" is a whitish marble originally from Docimium, or modern İscehisar, Turkey. Etymology The name derives from the Italian word for ...

marble). Soon it was converted for use in Christian cult and burials. The

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

ic arrival brought some changes. It was also used during the Islamic age. The

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

used it as an abbey or monastery. It appears as the hermitage of ''Santa María de Batres'' in the '' Relaciones de Felipe II'' (1576), with most of the area used as a cemetery. It was used as such until the 17th century. The head of the Roman building, as the hermitage of ''Santa María de Abajo'' ("

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

of the lower side"), lasted until around 1920 when it was dynamited to serve as construction material for the modern town. Its decoration shows the power of the patron. There were plates of marble, red

porphyry Porphyry (; , ''Porphyrios'' "purple-clad") may refer to: Geology * Porphyry (geology), an igneous rock with large crystals in a fine-grained matrix, often purple, and prestigious Roman sculpture material * Shoksha porphyry, quartzite of purple c ...

, and green

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

, wall painting, ''

opus sectile ''Opus sectile'' is a form of '' pietra dura'' popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and gla ...

'' and mosaics with glass and golden-leaf tiles. Anecdotally, the footprints of a

caliga ''Caligae'' (Latin; : ) are heavy-soled hobnailed military sandal-boots that were worn as standard issue by Roman legionary foot-soldiers and auxiliaries, including cavalry. History ''Caligae'' (: ''caliga'') are heavy-duty, thick-soled op ...

and a dog paw are visible on the mortar. The floorplan, part of the head (the chapel) and some columns are now visible.

Building B: nympheum

Only remains of the floorplan were found. Its location (a little knoll over the river) offers an interpretation as a monumental

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

with a fountain. Its shape reminds of a

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

. It was built with

opus caementicium Roman concrete, also called , was used in construction in ancient Rome. Like its modern equivalent, Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement added to an aggregate. Many buildings and structures still standing today, such as br ...

(stone and mortar) and opus testaceum (brick). Mosaics covered the floor.

Building C: Villa of Maternus

Remains of the

were the first found. The villa was built in the Theodosian era over earlier production facilities of an agricultural villa. The slope was compensated with a terraced construction over around 1,200 m² It is shaped around a

peristylum In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rarely used archaic term for this feature. The peristyle in ...

patio. The

hypocaust A hypocaust () is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm the upper floors a ...

under-floor heating and running water hint of the richness of the owner that becomes luxury when admiring the mosaics, assembled by at least three workshops, two of which took the unusual pride of signing their work. Other rooms are covered with

opus signinum ''Opus signinum'' ('cocciopesto' in modern Italian) is a building material used in ancient Rome. It is a form of Roman concrete (''opus caementicium''), the main difference being the addition of small pieces of broken pot, including ''amphorae' ...

(chalk and crushed bricks).

Mosaics

Sleeping room of Maternus

The ''

cubiculum A ''cubiculum'' (: ''cubicula'') was a private room in a ''domus'', an ancient Roman house occupied by a high-status family. It usually led directly from the atrium, but in later periods it was sometimes adjacent to the peristyle. It was used f ...

'' has a mosaic text in which the worker wishes Maternus prosperity. This Maternus is thought to be

Maternus Cinigius Maternus or Matiernus may refer to: * Marcus Cornelius Nigrinus Curiatius Maternus (c. 40–c. 97), Roman senator and suffect consul of AD 83 * Curiatius Maternus, who appears in Tacitus's ''Dialogus de oratoribus''; he may be the same person as ...

, uncle of the emperor Theodosius. The mosaics depict: * Portraits of Athena, Hercules and Diana. * the kidnapping of

Hylas In classical mythology, Hylas () was a youth who served Heracles (Roman Hercules) as companion and servant. His abduction by water nymphs was a theme of ancient art, and has been an enduring subject for Western art in the classical tradition. G ...

by the Nymphs. *

Acteon Actaeon or Acteon (Ἀκτέων) was a hero in Greek mythology. Actaeon or Acteon may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Acteón'' (film), a 1965 Spanish film * ''Actéon'' (opera), a 1684 French opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier * ''Ac ...

and the bath of Diana. *

Pyramus and Thisbe In Greek mythology, Pyramus and Thisbe () are a pair of ill-fated lovers from Babylon, whose story is best known from Ovid's narrative poem ''Metamorphoses''. The tragic myth has been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe's parents, drive ...

Amymone In Greek mythology, Amymone (; , "blameless; innocent") was one of the 50 Danaïdes, Danaids as a daughter of Danaus, king of Libya. As the "blameless" Danaid, her name identifies her as, perhaps, identical to Hypermnestra ("great wooing" or "high ...

and

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

Meeting room

The

oecus ''Oecus'' is the Latinized form of Greek ''oikos'', used by Vitruvius for the principal hall or salon in a Roman house, which was used occasionally as a triclinium for banquets. When of great size it became necessary to support its ceiling with ...

, where the owner held meetings and banquets showing off his social status, was ended by a raised

exedra An exedra (: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architecture, architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek word ''ἐξέδρα'' ('a seat ou ...

. The mosaic depicts the death of

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

. Two dogs named Leander and Titurus are also represented.

Dining hall

The hypocaust of the

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Ancient Rome, Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek language, Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch, or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to ...

was complemented by ceramic tubes in the walls that pulled the hot air upwards. The mosaic depicts the gift of the slave

Briseis Briseis (; , ), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married to ...

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

as narrated in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. A sloped floor formed a semicircular wall fountain with a mosaic of the god

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

, featuring crab antennas and claws and a wavy beard. The water effect was completed by blue-glass windows.

References

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia () is the Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on 8 March 2006, and 1,000,000 articles on 16 May 2013. It is the -largest Wikip ...

br>as of September 19, 2006

(in Spanish).

External links

The Mosaics of Carranque
{{authority control Ancient Roman buildings and structures in the province of Toledo Roman towns and cities in Spain Archaeological sites in Spain Visigothic archaeological sites in Spain Municipalities in the Province of Toledo