Excavations conducted at the Sant Gregori site, located in the town of Burriana (Castellón, Spain), have brought to light significant remnants of a maritime villa from the Roman era that specialized in viticulture.
This archaeological project, led by the Aula de Arqueología Mediterránea of the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló in collaboration with the Burriana Archaeological Museum, has identified structures dedicated to wine production, known as cella vinaria, and agricultural land designated for vine cultivation, referred to as fundus.
The importance of these findings has prompted the Burriana City Council and the Archaeological Museum to work on a musealization project to highlight this unique historical site.
Although the pressing rooms (torculares) have yet to be identified, areas for storage and other facilities have been uncovered, likely serving as workspaces or housing. These structures, isolated and oriented east-west, seem to follow a strategy to minimize humidity and protect against excessive sunlight, optimizing conditions for winemaking.
Furthermore, excavations have revealed trenches for vine planting, known as sulcus in the texts of Roman authors such as Columella and Pliny. These trenches, in excellent condition, are arranged in parallel and oriented northeast-southwest, enabling efficient cultivation of multiple vines per row.
The case of Sant Gregori stands out due to the presence of these planting trenches in a coastal environment, a rare occurrence in Roman archaeology on the Iberian Peninsula. In Hispania, similar evidence had only been documented in regions such as Galicia, Badajoz, and the Bay of Cádiz. The ten trenches identified at Sant Gregori measure between 1.1 and 1.3 meters in width, with a spacing of 2.5 to 3 meters between their axes.
The location of this villa, close to a marshy area (palus), raises intriguing questions about the techniques used to optimize vine cultivation in challenging terrain. Ancient texts suggest that the Romans were capable of transforming wet areas into productive land through drainage systems, as documented in the Pontine Marshes and the surroundings of Ravenna, Italy.
The Sant Gregori villa, constructed between the turn of the era and the 4th century AD, spans over 15,000 square meters, exceeding the average size of coastal villas in the Roman province of Tarraconensis. Among its structures are productive areas, storage facilities, baths with heating systems, and residential spaces.
This extensive complex was connected to the Roman municipality of Saguntum, renowned for its prosperity in wine production and trade during the imperial period, particularly between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Some passages of 2nd-century Latin literature, specifically by Fronto and Juvenal, seem to confirm that during this century, Saguntine wine was a highly popular product in Rome.
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