Villaricos Archaeological Site

The Villaricos Archaeological Site has a surface area of 301,638.63 m2 and was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. 

Today it is known essentially as a key site in the study of the colonisation if the Iberian Peninsula and identified with Baria that was founded in the 8th century B.C.

The site features a broad chronological sequence, with origins in the Chalcolithic or Copper Age with settlement lasting until the Early Middle Ages. The complex has a number of different centres, the most important being: the original Phoenician and Punic settlement located in the north-west sector which nowadays lies partly under the centre of Villaricos, and with the only visible remains of the Phoenicia-Carthaginian city corresponding to what was the necropolis to the north of the Phoenician and Carthaginian settlements.

The latter cover a great extension in both space and time, given that the oldest tombs date back to the 7th century BC and consist of monumental tombs or hypogea carved out of the rock.

The area where you will find the hypogea share the space with part of the industrial heritage in the form of remains from lead and iron mining activity dating back to the middle of the 19th century.

In 2005 it was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage, registered as an Archaeological Zone of the first order for the study and knowledge of both the Phoenician and the Punic civilisations, as well as the Romanisation of Baetica, with great potential for historical research at the Andalusian and Iberian Peninsula level.