Santa Pola - History

History

The first settlements in the area remount to the third millennium BC, proof of which have been tools and paintings from the Neolithic found in the Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassí, as well as remains found from hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic in the Cueva de las Teresitas. During the fourth century BC a small walled settlement was built near Vanalopó river. This served mainly as a Greek-Iberia economical hub. During the first century AC, near the former site a port was built, serving the city of Illici, named Portus Illicitanus (cited by Claudio Ptolomeo in Civitates Mediterraneae). This port proved paramount for the development of the region's maritime commerce, together with Cartagena's. In 460 AC, emperor Mayoriano's flotilla set sail to attack north African vandals, but was burnt at that same port. From the Roman settlement a necropolis is still in place, as well as a fish-salting factory and the Roman House of Palmeral. Their remains are described as back as 1621 by Cristòfol Sanz, although they were excavated during the 20th century.

Read more about this topic:  Santa Pola

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.
    Mao Zedong (1893–1976)

    One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.
    Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)

    The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.
    Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)