Villa romana de Las Torres | Photo: © Julian Romero
In the south of Spain, in Estepona, there are the remains of a small Roman resort – Villa romana de Las Torres – located on the coast, right next to the Torre Guadalmansa lighthouse, from late medieval times.
The center of economic and social life was a villa from the 2nd century CE, richly decorated with mosaics and marble columns. Five well-preserved mosaics depicting geometric figures were found in the villa, including: fragment of a marble column, ceramics and a small bronze bust of a woman. Numerous Roman coins were also found, from various periods – from the 1st to the 3rd century CE.
The center was home to the production of the famous garum sauce, agriculture and sale of salted fish.
According to researchers, the villa consisted of two parts: the urban part (it had an atrium or impluvium), where the owner and family mainly stayed; and rural (warehouses or workshops), where slaves worked and industrial work took place. In late antiquity, a necropolis was established in the center.
