Alcúdia Archaeological Site: The Ancient City of Ilici in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Iberian, Roman
- Site type
- City
On this page10 sections
History
Alcúdia Archaeological Site in Spain preserves the remains of the ancient city of Ilici, near Elche in Alicante. Occupied intermittently for approximately six millennia, the site contains evidence ranging from the Neolithic period to the beginning of the Islamic period, with its greatest development taking place under the Iberians and Romans.
Early occupation and Iberian development
The earliest occupation at Alcúdia dates to the Neolithic period, and Neolithic materials have also been found in the surrounding area. The excavated sequence extends from the end of the Bronze Age through later historical phases. During the Iberian period, the settlement developed into an important urban centre. It may have been the principal city of the southern Iberian region, with influence across central and southern Alicante and into adjoining parts of Albacete and Murcia.
The Iberians were the pre-Roman peoples of the eastern and southern Iberian Peninsula. At Alcúdia, their occupation continued beneath the later Roman levels, and the Iberian city may have occupied the same general area as its Roman successor. This period is represented by monumental sculpture and by ceramics associated with the Elche-Archena tradition.
Roman Ilici
Roman authorities refounded the city as Colonia Iulia Ilici around 43–42 BCE. A Roman colonia was a formally established colonial settlement created or reorganized under Roman authority. The city was refounded again as Colonia Iulia Ilici Augusta around 27–26 BCE, placing it within the Roman political and administrative order.
By the first century CE, Ilici stood in one of the two branches of the Vinalopó delta. The river flowed into the ancient Sinus Ilicitanus, a gulf or lagoon whose former landscape was later altered by major coastal changes. The lower Segura and Vinalopó region had already changed substantially during the preceding 15,000 years, shaping the setting in which the Roman city developed.
Late antiquity and abandonment
Late-antique remains include a religious building identified by some interpretations as a Christian church and by others as a synagogue. Its precise identification remains unsettled. After the Islamic conquest in the eighth century, the settlement declined and was eventually abandoned during the Middle Ages.
Archaeology and heritage protection
The Ramos family owned Alcúdia for almost the entire twentieth century and carried out archaeological work there during that period. The University of Alicante acquired the site in 1996, beginning a new phase centred on scientific evaluation of the settlement and its monuments and on the enhancement of its cultural heritage. Alcúdia was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in Spain in 1992, a formal designation for places of historical, archaeological, architectural, or cultural importance.
Remains
The archaeological site covers approximately 10 hectares about 3 kilometres south of Elche, close to the Vinalopó River. Excavated Iberian layers lie beneath the Roman remains, revealing a long sequence of occupation in the same area. If the Iberian city and Roman city covered comparable ground, the earlier settlement was large by the standards of the Valencian region, although smaller than cities in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
Iberian sculpture and material remains
Dama de Elche
The Dama de Elche is an Iberian female bust dating to the fourth or fifth century BCE. It was found at Alcúdia among the site’s Iberian sculptural remains and forms part of the evidence for the settlement’s rich monumental tradition.
Iberian warrior sculpture
A fragment of an Iberian warrior sculpture was accidentally found a few metres from the location of the Dama de Elche. Carved from limestone in the fourth century BCE, it shows a warrior in a short tunic wielding a falcata, a curved single-edged Iberian sword. The fragment may have belonged to a heroon-type sculptural group, a monument or shrine connected with the commemoration of a hero or distinguished person. It is now displayed at Spain’s National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.
Late-antique religious building
The site also preserves the remains of a late-antique building interpreted either as a Christian church or as a synagogue. This uncertainty reflects the different readings of the surviving structure, while its presence demonstrates the continuation of organized religious activity at Alcúdia during late antiquity.
