Apr 26

Marbell History

This is going to be information about the history of Marbella, from the beginning and to what we are today. Marbella has a very interesting history.

Marbella has been on the map since just about the year dot. Pottery found in Neolithic caves prove the presence of our cave dwelling ancestors and these early residents introduced such innovations as the plough, crops, livestock raising, pottery, textiles and permanent villages. They also developed metalwork, smelting copper and bronze to make agricultural tools and weaponry. By about 1000 BC the area was rich in agriculture, animals and metals and Phoenician traders came to trade perfumes, ivory, jewelers, oil, wine and textiles for Andalucían silver and bronze.

Around the 7th century BC, the Greeks came too, trading many of the same goods. The Phoenicians and Greeks brought to Andalucia the potter’s wheel, writing, the olive tree, the vine and animals such as the donkey and hen. The Carthaginians were Marbella’s next inhabitants, gradually pushing out the Phoenicians and Greeks and, once weakened, the area also attracted Iberians from northern Spain.

Roman’s Marbella

The mighty Romans conquered the area after nearly two hundred years of bloody battles had raged throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Once under Rome’s command however, Andalucia became one of the richest and most civilized areas of the empire outside Italy. Situated on the main Via Augusta, which ran from Rome to Gades, lay “Salduba”, today’s Marbella. It was one of the most important Roman settlements on the Costa del Sol. The remains of a once luxurious Roman villa situated at Rio Verde (on the outskirts of Marbella) display in situ some beautiful mosaics from the period and the substantial remains of the octagonal Roman bath house of Las Bovedas in San Pedro de Alcantara has defied the elements in spectacular fashion.

The Romans held the area for nearly 500 years until the longhaired Visigoths settled in the area after overthrowing Rome and then being pushed to the far reaches of the former empire by other invaders. In San Pedro de Alcantara, the Visigothic Christian basilica of Vega del Mar is one of the best-preserved Visigothic monuments in Spain and artifacts from here, the Roman villa and Las Bovedas can be viewed at the archaeological museums in Malaga and Madrid.

 

 

 

 

 

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