Pollentia

According to legend, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus established the Roman city of Pollentia in the area that is now Alcdia in the year 123 BC. However, the earliest known remains date to the early first century BC. As a result, it was determined through investigation that a military expedition might build a castra (military camp) that would subsequently give rise to the modern city of Pollentia.

It is thought that Pollentia was a Roman castra (camp) until around 70 BC, when, in accordance with the excavations in the forum area, the city's urbanism was restructured and monumentalized. Pollentia was one of the Roman settlements created by consul Metellus. A wealthy and flourishing city, Pollentia has a preserved area of about 16 hectares. Despite a severe fire that struck this region in the third century AD, the city was not completely destroyed because the construction of a fortification in the fifth century AD is recorded in the same forum.

The medieval Christian population eventually settled down a little further north, in the present-day town of Alcdia, leaving Pollentia mostly or entirely unpopulated in the succeeding years. In the 16th century, but particularly since the turn of the 20th century, Sa Portella, the city forum, the tabernacle, and the theater have seen the majority of excavations.

Location: Alcúdia, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain