Benidorm is ready for the intervention that will consolidate and musealize the Roman 'castellum' of El Tossal

Benidorm is already preparing for the archaeological intervention in the site of El Tossal de La Cala that will allow to consolidate, put in value and start the musealization of the Roman 'castellum' from the 1st century BC. In a press conference, the acting mayor, Toni Pérez, and the acting councilor of Historical Heritage, Ana Pellicer, have reported that this intervention, valued at 500,000 euros, will begin next week.

The mayor recalled that this action, which the City Council began to outline in December 2017, "has a subsidy of 205,000 euros within the line of aid for the protection or recovery of Valencian cultural heritage of the Operational Program FEDER 2014-2020" , like the archaeological intervention in El Castell, which also starts next week. In the case of El Castell, the aid amounts to 500,000 euros.

Pérez explained that this project will "musealize the El Tossal de La Cala deposit, setting up an open-air museum". This will "act on the entire surface of the site, especially in the western plot where archaeologists located in 2017 the central street of 'castellum' and in which the visible remains allow to deduce the existence of a set of buildings very similar to those already located in the excavated part of the fort "-

The works will consist of "consolidating and restoring the masonry walls of the rooms of the 'castellum' and the canvas of the wall; reconstruct the main road of the 'castellum'; identify the different rooms, differentiating the use each one had with colored gravel; reconstruct a room or room thematizing it to show what military life was like at the time of the Sertorian wars; and signaling the site with informative and informative posters ".

In addition, two modules will be installed for toilets and interpretation center, the general lighting of the set and the implementation of a video surveillance system. Perez stressed that all this "will allow the already large number of visitors, tourists, experts and laymen attracted by the enclave and what it contains to have all the information about what is and represents the 'castellum'", as well as of "all the services that localization allows, ensuring comfort and accessibility to this important show and jewel of our local historical heritage".

Pellicer, for his part, has indicated that "within the group of experts" who will supervise and supervise the development of the work are "the professors of the University of Alicante (UA) Jesús Moratalla and Feliciana Sala", responsible for the seven campaigns of excavation in El Tossal and that also collaborate in this project.

The head of Historical Heritage has stressed that the 'castellum' of El Tossal "is a reference for archaeologists" for the important information it has thrown on how the Roman forts of that time worked.

Previous actions carried out by the City Council in the 'castellum'

During the year and a half of processing the project of '' Archaeological intervention in the Castellum del Tossal of La Cala ', the City Council has continued investing its own resources to recover and value the site.

Thus, as the mayor recalled, in September last year "the sixth excavation campaign was carried out at the site by the UA, in which four more rooms and an additional ten meters of the integrated street in the fortress of the 'castellum' ".

Previously, in the first quarter of 2018, the City Council "executed an emergency action after the rains caused the detachment of part of the wall that separated the deposit from the access road to the El Tossal viewpoint and brought to light two new stays. " In addition, he invested nearly 105,000 euros in "the consolidation of the 'castellum', exhume the ranches located in previous archaeological campaigns, enhance the site, and improve the visual appearance and accessibility of the site."

Project timeline

- December 2017. The plenary session, at the proposal of the local government, approves presenting itself to the call for grants for the protection or recovery of the Valencian cultural heritage of the ERDF Operational Program 2014-2020, with two archaeological intervention projects in El Castell and El Tossal , valued at 1.2 million and 500,000 euros respectively.

- July 2018. The Ministry confirms the granting of both subsidies, for the maximum eligible amount in each case: 500,000 and 205,000 euros respectively.

- December 2018. The JGL approves the final document of the 'Archaeological intervention in the Castellum del Tossal de La Cala'.

- February 2019. The City Council asks Costas for "administrative authorization for the occupation of the lands of the maritime-terrestrial public domain", an essential permit to be able to act in El Tossal.

- End of February 2019. The works are tendered.

-           April 1st. Plenary approves the budget modification to address this project, the El Tossal and the Universal Accessibility.

-           may 14. JGL awards the work to Urbana de Exteriores.