Valencia has many stories to tell, and some still lie hidden beneath its streets, waiting for someone to discover them. Whether they date back more than 1,800 years or are less than a century old, they are gradually coming to light and offering clues about our past.
Construction work on a new residential building in the Orriols neighborhood has uncovered a dual archaeological find from very different eras: a Roman necropolis and a Civil War air-raid shelter.
Among the Roman remains, five bodies from the 2nd century were found buried in three different ways: in a pit, an urn, and a roof tile.
The air-raid shelter, well protected by law
Orriols is one of the areas of the city that has been designated an Archaeological Surveillance Area since 1995, when other similar tombs from Antiquity were discovered there.
However, it is less common to find hidden remains from the early 20th century and the Spanish Civil War, and these are protected by law as Sites of Local Significance. This means that the urban development project has been redesigned to coexist with the air-raid shelter.
Although the preservation and restoration of the shelter in the building’s basement are now guaranteed, it is unknown whether the space will be open to the public. The Roman remains will most likely be transferred to the municipal archaeological collection after they have been studied and excavated.
The construction project, which is part of the Agustín Lara Integrated Urban Development Plan (PAI), will result in the construction of a total of 139 homes, nearly 900 square meters of public gardens, and new sidewalks and urban infrastructure throughout the area.
