Roca (also known as Rocavecchia or Roca Vecchia) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

located on the

Adriatic coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to ...

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

, a few

kilometre The kilometre (SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the ...

s from the modern town of Melendugno and close to the city of

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

. The site, which has been explored since the end of the 1980s by a team of the University of Salento, has produced some of the best-preserved monumental architecture of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(2nd millennium BC) in Southern Italy, along with the largest set of

Mycenaean pottery Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was ...

ever recovered west of mainland

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

The occupation of the site continued also in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and

Classical times Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...

, when a large natural cavity known as Poesia Cave was used for

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

practices involving the writing of thousands of dedications to a local deity in three languages:

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Messapic Messapic (; also known as Messapian; or as Iapygian) is an extinct Indo-European Paleo-Balkanic language of the southeastern Italian Peninsula, once spoken in Salento by the Iapygian peoples of the region: the Calabri and Salentini (known colle ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. The site was re-occupied in late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times, when a new town was founded by Walter VI, Count of Brienne.

Grotta della Poesia

Grotta della Poesia (Poetry Cave) is one of the most well known natural rock formations inside the archaeological site. It's a natural pool that's recognized as one of the most beautiful natural pools in the world. The name originates from a legend that tells the story of a Princess who liked to bathe in the waters of Grotta della Poesia. In turn, the beautiful princess has become the muse for countless poets in the Salento peninsula. In reality the caves were most likely used for religious purposes. There are Messapian inscriptions on the wall that helped to decrypt the original purpose of the caves. From these inscriptions it becomes very clear that they are was dedicated to the worship of god Taotor, a Messapian deity. This natural pool has attracted a flock of tourists each year. To combat this there has been an admission price introduced recently. It is in place to help protect this significant archeological area better.

Sources

* Guglielmino, R. 2006. "Roca Vecchia (Lecce): New Evidence for Aegean Contacts with Apulia During the Late Bronze Age". ''Accordia Research Papers'' 10: 87–102. * Pagliara, C. 2005. "Rocavecchia (Lecce): Il sito, le fortificazioni e l’abitato dell’età del Bronzo". In E. Greco & R. Laffineur (eds), ''Emporia: Aegeans in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean : Proceedings of the 10th International Aegean Conference/10e Rencontre Égéenne Internationale, Athens, Italian School of Archaeology, 14–18 April 2004''. ''Aegaeum'' 25 (Liège, Belgium, and Austin, TX: Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art archéologie de la Grèce antique; University of Texas at Austin, Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory): 629–636. * Pagliara, C. et al. 2007. "La sequenza cronostratigrafica delle fasi di occupazione dell’insediamento protostorico di Roca (Melendugno, Lecce). Relazione preliminare della campagna di scavo 2005 – Saggio X". ''Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche'' 57: 311–362. * Pagliara, C. et al. 2008. "Roca Vecchia (Melendugno, Lecce), SAS IX: relazione stratigrafica preliminare sui livelli di occupazione protostorici (campagne di scavo 2005–2006)". ''Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche'' 58: 239–280. * Scarano, T. 2012. ''Roca I. Le fortificazioni della media età del Bronzo''. Foggia: Carlo Grenzi. * Iacono, F. 2015. "Feasting at Roca: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Society in the Southern Adriatic during the Late Bronze Age". ''European Journal of Archaeology'', 18 (2): 259–281.

References

External links

Official websiteThe golden sun discs from Roca (Lecce, Italy)
{{Clear Archaeological sites in Apulia Bronze Age sites Mycenaean sites