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El Casón

Jumilla, Altiplano, Murcia

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El Casón

Monument · Jumilla, Altiplano, Murcia

El Casón is a late Roman family funerary mausoleum from the end of the 4th century, in excellent condition and considered one of the best-preserved Early Christian monuments on the Iberian Peninsula. It stands in the San Antón district of Jumilla, on a small square that until the 1970s was a spot on the outskirts of the village. It has a Greek-cross floor plan, with a central body covered by a barrel vault and two attached apsidal chambers, covered by quarter-sphere vaults, which may have served for offerings or storage; its walls, almost 50 cm thick and made of sturdy stone bonded with lime mortar, explain its good state of preservation. The ancient looting of the tombs makes it impossible to know whether its occupants were pagan or Christian. It was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico (Spain's heritage-protection status in force until 1985) in 1931.

Photo: Adrianlopezc (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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