The Fontes Tamarici, (, ), are three springs located by the geographer and Roman historian

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in classical Cantabria. Since the 18th century they have been identified with the source of ''La Reana'' in

Velilla del Río Carrión Velilla del Río Carrión (or simply Velilla) is a town and municipality located in Montaña Palentina of the Palencia (province), province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2023 INE census, the municipality has a population ...

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The first mention of the spring, by Pliny, dates from the time of the Roman conquest of

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

. Pliny records that the springs were frequently dry, while other nearby springs continued to flow; he says that the springs being dry was considered to be a bad

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages ...

History

The Tamarici, one of the tribes that made up the

Cantabri The Cantabri (, ''Kantabroi'') or Ancient Cantabrians were a pre-Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. These peoples and their territor ...

, inhabited the area from the 3rd century BC. They worshiped waters and the sacred springs. The exact year of the construction of the Fontes Tamarici is unknown, but when the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

conquered

in 19 BC, they found these sources that drew wide attention. The outbreak irregular emptying its waters and unexpected, accompanied by the noise that precedes underground filling, had to be at that time matter of respect and adoration. Possibly they were used as baths,

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

and

. It has been also suggested that the fountain could be dedicated to a god of the waters, where predictions were made based on their irregular filling and emptying cycle. In the thirteenth century it was built beside a hermitage devoted to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, to Christianize the place and delete all relations with

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

rites.

The curse of Pliny

Studies of the

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

on the lands occupied by the

are crucial for knowledge and location of Tamaric Fountains. In his ''

Naturalis Historiae Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'', XXXI, 3, is where he alludes its particularity: Lartius Licinius was a great supporter of the work of Pliny, with his intense desire for knowledge of new discoveries, he visited the spring when it were in their dry phase, and died a week after in 70 AD.

Polemics

The identification of La Reana with the Fontes Tamarici has been contested to the point that, as of 2023, it is highly doubtful that they have anything to do with those described by Pliny. Fernández Acebo, after a critical study of both classic and historiographical sources, concludes that the adscription of La Reana to the Plinian fountain is wrong, arising from a faulty interpretation of the classical sources (Ptolemy, Strabo and Pomponius Mela) by the historian

Enrique Flórez Enrique or Henrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro (July 21, 1702August 20, 1773) was a Spanish historian. Biography Flórez was born in Villadiego. At 15 years old, he entered the order of St Augustine. He subsequently became professor of theol ...

in the 18th century. Flórez, with the very limited material available at his time, confused two ancient polities, the Camarici and the Tamarici. Wrong identification of tribes led to wrong identification of places. This error was stablished as a fact without further examination, backed by Florez's reputation, until the end of the 20th century. Under this false assumption, archaeologist García Bellido identified the Reana as the Plinian springs. This identification was soon followed by its declaration as historical monument ("Monumento Histórico") by the Ministry of National Education, eager to add some kind of touristic attraction to the zone. Much to the dismay of Bellido, the archaeological campaigns on site (1960-1961) yield practically no Roman findings, but medieval ones, a fact which Bellido candidly acknowledges: "''The result of both (digging) campaigns results in an insufficient documentation of Roman presence in the spring''". The official declaration of historical monument was a no return point for Bellido, a honest and hardworking archaeologist, which left the matter as it was, not to contradict the Francoist authorities nor disenchant the locals with a retraction. Fernández Acebo proposes that probabilities are high that real Fontes Tamarici might be the impressive intermittent river o
La Fuentona
("The big Fountain") in

Ruente Ruente is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Eur ...

, Cantabria (Spain) which fits neatly with Plinian description.

References

External links

VelilladelrioCarrion.es: Tamaric Fountains in Velilla del Río Carrión
�� {{Cantabrian mythology Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Spain Fountains in Spain Buildings and structures in the Province of Palencia Prophecy Tourist attractions in Castile and León