Valeria

A city at the cliff edge

Valeria is one of the cities Rome left in the province of Cuenca. It was founded between 85 and 82 BC by Gaius Valerius Flaccus, who had been consul in 93 BC.

What can be seen

• The forum, the city centre, with remains of its porticoes from Augustus’s time.
• The basilica, dedicated to emperor worship according to the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, although other descriptions also assign it commercial and judicial functions.
• The tabernae: shops, stores and workshops.
• The nymphaeum, with a 105-metre retaining wall once decorated in honour of the nymphs; little is visible today.
• The «casas colgadas» (hanging houses), adapted to the slope and gorge edge, with openings above the river cliff.

A hall of fame

Since 2022 a team led by Dionisio Urbina and Catalina Urquijo has excavated the forum’s western cryptoporticus, the lower gallery supporting the portico. There, in fills deposited when the space was abandoned, pedestals, inscriptions and fragments of bronze statues have appeared. Researchers believe the portico’s large exedra was a kind of hall of fame, like Augustus’s forum in Rome, with statues of the imperial family, gods and distinguished residents honoured by the city. One pedestal was dedicated to Diva Drusilla, Caligula’s sister, dating it to around AD 38 to 40; a fragment of a large bronze torch would have belonged to a statue of Ceres. Letter forms distinguish at least two workshops of engravers, perhaps three. Each field season adds seven or eight names of Valeria residents to those known. Statues were replaced because of political changes or lack of space, and not every broken fragment proves that someone’s memory was erased.

Carpenters and cartwrights

Carpenters’ tools appeared in one of the forum’s shops, and cartwheels and a 4th-century altar dedicated to Minerva in a house the excavators call Valentín’s. Archaeologist Julián Torrecillas links them to woodworking and cart-making workshops, and to the idea that the black pine forests of Cuenca and Albarracín were a timber reserve for Rome. This interpretation awaits full publication.

Plan your visit

Check opening times and conditions before going.

Before you travel

Do not collect anything or enter cordoned-off areas.

Combine with

In the village square stands the church of La Sey, with columns from the ancient city, and alongside runs the River Gritos gorge. The municipality is covered under Las Valeras.