Cartegna, Spain

Although Murcia is the capital of the region, Cartegna is more well known. A popular stop for cruise ships, it gets plenty of tourists. Its port has been important since the 4th century BC when it was held by the Carthaginians until they lost control to the Romans. The occupation by Rome ended when defeated by the Arabs who subsequently ruled until the 15th century when they too were conquered and later exiled by the Spanish. Cartegna's port is where we got off the bus and began our visit to this ancient city.
Along the waterfront is a long promenade with a couple of cafés on the way into town. We stopped at one for some breakfast and over-priced, but good coffee. We ate overlooking the Mediterranean and the port which has always played an important part in the life of this city. Along the way there's a couple of maritime museums, one of which continues to research the underwater archaeology of the area, constantly adding to its findings and knowledge of the port area and the city's history. We followed a path beside the Muralla del Mar (Sea Wall), built in the 18th century to mark the boundaries of the old town.

There's lots of history in Cartegna so on our day trip we had to make some choices. Various tickets are available for multiple sights around town, so we bought one that gave entrance to what interested us the most. We started at The Roman Theatre and Museum. The street level entrance to this museum leads visitors downwards, past exhibits and through paths and tunnels until emerging at the top of the amphitheatre, which is carved into a large hill. The theatre was completed sometime between 5-1 BC, by order of Augustus. The museum has interesting exhibits and displays. All information is in Spanish and English. In addition, Audio guides can be rented for a couple of euros in both these and other languages.
The museum has exhibits from the archaeological discoveries found on site. Like many Roman artifacts there's quite a few here that are impressive in size…..one such display, now mounted on a large wall, are 2 huge lintels, dedicated to Lucius and Caius. They were found above two of the entrances into the theatre. Some old walls and floors are protected behind glass and there's many interesting statues plus busts of emperors and their families along the path through the museum. The Theatre itself was converted into a market area during the 3rd century BC - the building materials were mostly scavenged from what was already there. Together with the city, it was vandalized in the early 5th century and once again used as a market in the 6th. Much later, in the 13th century, it was completely covered when a cathedral was built over the whole area. Today it's thought that over 60% of the original building materials are still here. We've been fortunate to see a lot of Roman "digs" together with their museums of ancient artifacts, but the advice on this one would be - don't go too quickly through this museum. There's an interesting atmosphere created by passing through the tunnels along the way - almost as if going back in time……..so if you have time, take it slowly. There's definitely a "wow" factor awaiting when you emerge out into the sunlight and find that you're at the very top of this amazing amphitheatre!

In 1988 excavation started slowly but work there began to reveal the theatre. In 2003 it was opened to visitors for viewing. Sat on one of the highest hills in the city and carved into a rock face, this amphitheatre could seat 7,000 people. Entrances and aisles lead down huge stone steps, which provided the audience with both seating and views of the semicircular stage - which is a big one! While we were there some children, who were on a school trip, were having a great time on the stage, playing with various replicas of armour and swords. At the front of the stage there was room for an orchestra plus 3 rows of seats reserved for dignitaries. Statues and columns are numerous around the site.
Old apartment buildings, some still occupied, seem incompatible when viewed from the theatre. For many years the surrounding area was considered a "depressed" part of the old town. After the monumental excavation of the theatre, now considered one of the most important in Spain, I suspect that many of these remaining apartments have increased in value - they have a spectacular and very unique view!

Taking a break to digest what we'd just seen, we spent some time walking through and around the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and along Calle Mayor which leads off the square. There's some lovely buildings in the square including the town hall and the house of Cervantes. Further along is the museum of modern art. We passed some great examples of the traditional glassed in balconies, plus lots of fine examples of wrought iron decorations. Criss-crossing in and out of the streets there's plenty to while away the time, with lots of cafés, restaurants and shops - including some lovely flower shops full of bright, seasonal blooms.

After enjoying the more "modern" historical surroundings, we returned to Roman times at the Forum. The entrance is tucked away in an area known as Molinete, where there's a large park of the same name. This Parque Arqueológico de Molinete is one of the largest in Europe. In an urban location it covers 26,000 square metres, although the area on display is a lot smaller! It certainly doesn't draw the crowds that the theatre does, which leaves plenty of space to wander through the on-sight museum and stroll the open spaces. Archaeologists have found a wealth of information here, including some from recent times when during the latter part of the 19th century Molinete was a maze of narrow streets filled with lively, but not always reputable characters. Photographs in the museum document this period.
In the 20th century the township allowed the abandoned and broken down buildings to be demolished and cleared away. Gradually the layers of time were stripped away and much was revealed. Not only Romans had lived here, but Visigoth's, Moors and Christians, plus Barbary pirates, who raided from nearby North African ports. Today the main part of this park on thehill has been converted into an open air archaeological area, with walkways and shaded areas to view the site. There's also a small museum with a selection of artifacts and old photographs, providing the visitor with an interesting story of its long history. "The main event" is a stroll through excavations from the Roman era. In a time when most of the inhabitants lived without running water, the public baths provided a place for sanitary facilities, bathing, washing, socializing and for some, conducting business. The thermal baths, built in the 1st century have their characteristic spaces - a series of hot, warm and cold rooms. At this site the changing room has its original marble floor and the warmer rooms still have part of their heating system. The entrance to the complex has a courtyard with columns, a covered walkway, plus an extremely well preserved floor of herringbone bricks, which was popular at this time. There's a temple to Isis and Serapis and so much more…..it's very easy to lose track of time in this peaceful place - and we did! With time left for just one more place of interest, we again had to make a choice - even though we still had a few places left on our ticket package! We headed directly across town to the castle.

With a surrounding park the Concepción castle sits atop a hill. Through the centuries It was a fortress for the Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs and Castilians. Over the years it was rebuilt many times, with lots of battles fought here, but by the end of the 18th century the castle lost its military importance and was partly demolished. In the 1920's the area gained the city park now surrounding it - and later a small museum. The walk up isn't too strenuous and makes for a pleasant one, full of greenery. There's also a lof of ducks in and around some decorative ponds. For those not wanting or unable to take the path, there's an elevator...it's an oddly incongruous, industrial structure, attached to one side of the cliff.
There's really not much to see at the castle, so in hindsight we maybe should have chosen something else left on our ticket ***tourist tip - do your "homework" before visiting*** The views are good though, especially over the port and surrounding mountains. After enjoying these views, it really was time to get that bus - we'd had a long day and after 9 hours spent in the city, we were ready to head "home." This time we used the elevator to get to the bottom of the cliff!