The modern Roman road through Calahorra

This monument, also known as the Rollo or Picota, is classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest and was designated a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1963. It is a jurisdictional rollo, a stone column that marked Calahorra’s own jurisdiction; in other words, travellers recognised it as a city with its own charters, free and sovereign, answerable exclusively to the king, and distinct from towns or villages that were subject to a feudal lord.

It is also called a Picota because it was used to publicly display criminals, although its main function was more symbolic and administrative.

It is a tree-lined pedestrian area featuring historical monuments and sculptures dedicated to figures from Calahorra’s history.
Located in the centre of Calahorra, it corresponds structurally to what was once the ancient Roman circus of Calagurris.

Reproduction of the funerary stele of Julius Longinus, discovered in 1788 and dating from the 1st century AD.

A soldier in the auxiliary troops who built various infrastructure projects in the Ebro Valley.

Longinus belonged to the Bessi, a people from Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria), and the two figures raising the funerary stele (Sulpicius Susulla and Fuscus Bitius) were undoubtedly companions of the deceased and also Thracians.

The Ala Tautorum belonged to the auxiliary troops of Legio VI.

A figure associated with the Sertorian Wars (1st century BC) via an inscription considered to be a forgery. His name derives from epigraphic finds in the city, but, in this case, Bebricio’s tombstone is in fact a forgery. Although the text was denounced as a hoax as early as the beginning of the 17th century, fascination with the inscription’s narrative on the one hand, and local patriotism on the other, ensured the spread of the forgery and ultimately ‘brought to life’ its protagonist.

This statue, erected in 1878, commemorates the city’s heroism in the face of its conquerors. It depicts a female figure dressed in Roman style, wearing a helmet and carrying a sword; in her left hand she holds a human arm and in her right a knife. She represents the ‘Fames Calagurritana’ referred to by classical authors in connection with the historical event of the city resorting to cannibalism during the siege by Pompey’s troops in 72 BC.

This woman symbolises the loyalty and courage of a city.

The sculpture, carved from white Carrara marble, bears inscriptions and texts on its base extolling the greatness of Calahorra:

– “I prevailed against Carthage and Rome”.

– “Calahorra won the trophy of the victor and the invincible through the nobility of its blood, its lineage, its learning, its virtues and its martial valour”.

– “Most Noble, Most Loyal and Faithful City of Calahorra”.

Calagurris was granted the status of a municipium under Roman law in the last quarter of the 1st century BC; this municipalisation marked the beginning of urban development that provided the city with significant public infrastructure, including a venue dedicated to the celebration of the Ludi Circenses, or Circus.

Calahorra had a large, monumental circus modelled on the Circus Maximus in Rome, a major entertainment venue in antiquity, whose dimensions spanned the current Paseo del Mercadal, between Calle Paletillas and the Theatre, and the Era Alta park and the Parador Nacional de Turismo. The archaeological remains lie beneath the Paseo del Mercadal, the current city centre, but in Roman times it was located outside the city.

It was 360 metres long and 80 metres wide, and was the venue for horse races. The layout of the circus would have placed the starting gates, or ‘carceres’, in the area of the Town Hall; only part of the northern semi-circular end remains visible today, next to the Matrona, where some remains are still in view.

Various Roman artefacts unearthed in the city have been placed alongside the gardens of the Era Alta.

Amongst the various column shafts and bases, presses and large ashlars, a drainage channel from the Roman circus—which has been moved to this site—stands out; its size gives an idea of just how monumental the original complex must have been.

The clinic is an archaeological site excavated during the second half of the 20th century. It preserves the remains of a major public building and a thermal complex.

The Roman building was constructed in the third quarter of the 1st century AD and ceased to be used in the mid-3rd century. The building was characterised by its remarkable grandeur. It is laid out over three levels or terraces, with mosaics, paintings and beautiful stucco work adorning its walls. Given the design of the preserved section and the thermal complex attached to its southern side, it is likely to have been a public building rather than a private house or domus.

The mosaics, paintings, grave goods and other movable artefacts found during the excavations can now be viewed at the Museum of Romanisation.

The first barbarian invasions of the 3rd century AD (around 270) forced Calagurris and other major Hispano-Roman cities to build walls for protection. Their remains are still visible on Calle Carretil. With the construction of this wall, some urban areas were left outside the walls and their buildings were abandoned. This wall consists of two parallel courses of ashlars, separated from one another and linked section by section by perpendicular tie-beams that formed compartments filled with rubble.

At the Las Medranas site, there is a section of medieval wall that overlaps the Roman wall, which ran between Plaza del Raso and the Portillo de la Rosa tower. The most monumental feature that has been recovered is a tower whose dimensions and construction technique are very similar to the two that have been preserved: the Portillo de la Rosa tower and the one situated between Enramada and Carreteros streets. It is built using boulders in the straight sections; the joints are wide, but the mortar generously covers the faces of the stones.

It is located at number 15, Calle Portillo de la Rosa, in the old town of Calahorra. It is a medieval tower that preserves remains of Roman public buildings of great significance. It is known as ‘El Murrión’ and is the only surviving part of the city’s ancient defences; as it forms part of the defensive structure of the old city wall, it has been declared a Site of Cultural Interest.

It is a remnant of the towers that formed part of the High Imperial wall, dating from around the 1st century AD. These towers marked a section of the wall that ran from Plaza del Raso to Portillo de la Rosa, passing through what is now the Las Medranas archaeological site.

This is a viewpoint in Calahorra, offering views across the entire stretch of the Ebro riverbank where La Rioja and Navarre meet. A series of ashlars from the municipality of San Felices were placed here, on the road to the Perdiguero Reservoir, near the site of a medieval settlement that was destroyed, close to where its necropolis once stood—which can still be made out today—thus linking this viewpoint to the area’s ancient history.

Generally believed to date from Roman times, it is one of the gateways to the walled city and the only one still standing. It is a semicircular arch built of stone voussoirs; above the arch, in keeping with the custom of placing images at the entrances to the town for its protection, stands the Virgin of Planillo.

It is located in the old town, at number 13 Murallas Street, just behind the Church of San Francisco and next to the Municipal School of Music.

It is the base of an old tower that belonged to the Roman wall of the 1st century AD. A large, compact, and solid tower with a quadrangular structure, it projected forward from the axis of the wall to which it was attached. This defensive element was erected in the first decades of Calagurris Iulia’s existence as a “Municipium Civium Romanorum” (City of Roman Citizens).

On the Lower Walls, from the beginning of the 20th century, a section of wall made of large ashlars could be seen, the upper part of which joined with the house at number 13 on the street. Its eastern side disappeared, apparently covered by the construction of an adjacent farmyard. A few years ago, when the stable was declared a ruin and demolished, it was discovered that the arch was embedded in another section of wall that appeared to follow the same alignment as the one made of large ashlars, although with a completely different style. Traditional historiography considers this arch of El Sequeral as a direct access point to the citadel or acropolis, which would have been located in the highest part of Calahorra, that is, in the Rasillo de San Francisco and its surroundings. This area, known as El Castellar, would have been bordered by Murallas, Cabezo, Sastres, and del Horno streets. The layout of these streets would then trace the route of the oldest section of the city walls, and at the specific point of El Sequeral, the lines of the various fortifications built throughout the city’s history would, a priori, coincide.

The Jewish quarter was located in the area now occupied by the Rasillo de San Francisco, bordered by Sastres and Morcillón streets and the slopes leading to the Cathedral, until the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.

Calahorra boasted a significant medieval Jewish quarter, considered the most important in La Rioja, with its own walled enclosure. It had its own laws, synagogue, and cemetery. It prospered through trade and agriculture.

The 12th-century astronomer and writer Abraham Ibn Ezra lived and died in the Jewish quarter of Calahorra.

The Torah, the Jewish prayer book, is kept in Calahorra Cathedral; at the beginning of the 20th century, the street name “Callejón de la Sinagoga” (Synagogue Alley) was still used.

Through the Arco del Planillo, we enter the heart of the old town, situated on the same site occupied by the Celtiberian, Roman, Visigothic, Arab, and medieval city, resulting in a rich cultural diversity that coexists within its streets.

The discovery of archaeological remains is common; the Roman city’s sewer system, the sewers, is perfectly preserved underground.

This archaeological site is designated a Site of Cultural Interest.

It is located between Navas and Pastelería streets in the heart of the city’s historic center.

It corresponds to the earliest period of occupation of the site, dating from the late 1st century BC to the fully Roman period.

The Roman-era tower, rectangular in plan, was built of stone blocks and is part of the defensive wall. It stands atop an earlier V-shaped ditch, corresponding to the first Roman military settlement, which, after its abandonment, was filled in to build upon it.

It houses the most important archaeological remains from the Celtiberian and Roman periods that have been discovered in Calahorra and the rest of La Rioja.

The museum was founded in 1982, but it officially became the Museum of Romanization in 2009. Its origins lie in a collection of sculptures, ceramics, architectural materials, and coins, which were assembled from 1924 onwards by the local archivist, librarian, and excavation commissioner, Gutiérrez Achútegui.

The exhibition, spread across three floors and five rooms, features some invaluable pieces, such as the first coins minted in the town and the “Lady of Calahorra,” a beautiful sculpture that has become a symbol of the city.

Located in the heart of the old town, on Casa Santa Street, this Interpretation Center focuses on Christian origins, commemorating the city’s patron saints, Saint Emeterius and Saint Celedonius, who were imprisoned there before their execution.

Emperor Constantine established Christianity as the official religion through the Edict of Milan, although many Christians had previously suffered persecution and martyrdom, especially under Emperor Diocletian. Among them were Saint Emeterius and Saint Celedonius, Roman legionaries who were martyred near the Cidacos River, in the Arenal district, and who would later become the city’s patron saints.

Archaeological excavations at Casa Santa confirm the existence of a Roman building and evidence of an initial hermitage where the second one was later built.