Tour of the ancient Roman city of Sexi

Oh, it's a real journey into the past. As if in

We had the Time Machine! This small coastal town will surprise us with its huge historical heritage.

It was founded by the Iberians of such years 1500 before the birth of Christ. Then the colonists from Tyre (the Phoenicians) drove the Iberian tribe of Bastuls from the coast. The Phoenicians liked the area with two nearby convenient bays. Depending on the direction of the wind, it was possible to hide in the one that was on the windward side.

The Phoenicians were engaged in fishing, its salting. The matter is put on a broad foot – ships carry corn beef to the motherland and throughout the Mediterranean. Local beef is in demand! Perhaps it is not for nothing that Strabo and Pliny the Elder mentioned it. The Phoenicians were no strangers to luxury and could afford it: how many precious utensils were brought here from Egypt!

And all this can be seen in the local archaeological museum “Cueva de Ciete Palacios”. It is located in caves on the top of a hill, in the center of the city. The Romans expanded these caves and turned them into dwellings. This is the 1st century of Our Age. There was also a temple of the goddess Minerva.

In the museum, whatever the exhibit is a sensation: here is the burial urn of the Egyptian Pharaoh Apophis the First, dating from the 16th-17th centuries before our era. By the way, the text is written on the burial vase and this text is the most ancient one that can be found today in all of Spain!

This is a sculpture of a lion from the Phoenician era. This is the 7th century before our era. Many items were found during the excavation of the station and belong to the Phoenician era.

Since the time of Roman rule, a considerable legacy has remained. The Romans flourished in production and trade. Here come the tuna boats. Fish carcasses are unloaded from boats and immediately sent on carts to a nearby station. Majuelo Factory is one of the largest on the entire Mediterranean coast! Here almost round the clock boils work: salted in large stone vats fish then packed in large amphorae. The spicy fish sauce Liquamen (Garum) of the highest grade is poured into small amphorae. Amphorae marking. It is necessary that customers know where the goods came from, because what is produced in Firmum Julium Sexi does not need advertising! This “brand” is known to the Greeks of Peloponness and Asia Minor!

An 11-kilometer aqueduct is being built for the needs of the station (production requires a lot of fresh water). On the top of the hill Cerro de San Cristobal (as it is called now) a fortification is being built to protect the city from uninvited guests from the sea. And the first and second centuries of our era were the “star hour” of the Roman Empire. Emperors Vespasian, Titus and Nerva did not leave Spain their attention. Already painfully well replenished the budget of the empires of the provinces of Betica, Tarracona and Lusitania.

Five flights of this aqueduct have survived. We will see a span of 130 meters long and next to it Roman baths (sin would be not to use the water and not to build a bath in this place!). And here is the factory for salting fish and the production of the famous Garum! It's not all excavated. But even in this form, one can judge how huge the “city-forming” enterprise of the ancient Romans was once.

Above the station hangs the hill Cerro de San Cristobal. At its top, the Romans built a fortification. The Berbers of the Almoad dynasty, in the 12th century, rebuilt a primitive Roman citadel into a powerful fortress. The emirs of the Nasrid dynasty appreciated the grace of the climate of Almunekar and chose it as their summer residence. However, at the same time, they chose deep seven-meter casemates of the same castle to hold noble prisoners. Sitting in the stone bag of this castle and members of the families of the emirs, and powerful viziers – all who were displeasing the rulers of brilliant Granada.

Christian monarch Fernando II of Aragon began a serious reconstruction of the castle of San Miguel in 1489. Rebuilt the northern facade, the southern battery, built a drawbridge.

From the hill to the sea. It is crowded on the shore: numerous foreign tourists slowly march along the sea promenade, benevolently looking at the snow-white houses climbing the hill of Cerro de San Cristobal and getting almost close to the castle of San Miguel.

Well, our walk through the ancient city of Sexy and the modern city of Almunecar is over. We climb the Peñon del Santo cliff, which separates the two bays of the city. On the sandy beaches lie fishing boats and it is so easy to imagine the following picture: “... Phoenician fishermen pull boats filled with tuna into the sand. Fish carcasses are unloaded and carried on carts to the nearby station ...” I've already mentioned that, though.

Oh, I want to eat fresh fish! What's the problem?!

In Almunecar, fishermen bring seafood from night fishing to bars and restaurants.

transfer Malaga - Almunecar - Malaga, guide fee