Logbook · 6 places

Iberian Settlement of Azaila

Azaila, Bajo Martín, Teruel

1 Villages · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Bajo Martín › Azaila › Iberian Settlement of Azaila

Iberian Settlement of Azaila

Nature · Azaila, Bajo Martín, Teruel

Image of Azaila, not of the place itself.

The Iberian settlement of Azaila, known as Cabezo de Alcalá, was inhabited from the 9th century BC, when an acropolis of the urnfield culture occupied the hill. After being destroyed in the Punic Wars, Iberian peoples, probably the Sedetani, rebuilt the city, which grew to 3000 inhabitants and expanded beyond the acropolis with a commercial quarter and agricultural dwellings. It had defensive towers, a cistern holding 660,000 litres, Roman-style baths from the 1st-2nd centuries BC, and a temple with bronze elements. In 75 or 76 BC, Pompey's troops besieged and razed it, raising a ramp from the materials of the outer houses to storm the wall. Discovered in 1885 by Pablo Gil y Gil, it was excavated by Juan Cabré Aguiló between 1919 and 1944.

Photo: ecelan (CC BY 2.5)

What to see and do in Azaila