Villa de Los Villares

Contributors: Yiyun Liu, Amelia Lamis
Published: 2026-10-01
Last modified: 2026-10-01

Dates

first third of second century CE; rebuilt after 256 CE

Excavation Dates

unspecified

Garden Description

The villa is about 200 meters south of the center of the modern village of Santervas del Burgo and about 100 meters south of the left bank of the river Cejos. It is 57 km W of Soria, 85 km southeast of Burgos, and 151 km NNE of Madrid. The ruins are reburied beneath the earth in a field, awaiting funds to present them properly.

The villa was built in the first third of the 2nd century, destroyed by the Germanic invasions of the years immediately after 256, then rebuilt and enlarged under the restored empire, and finally abandoned in the 5th century. The large central peristyle courtyard (43.5 x 19 m) had porticoes on all four sides and a garden with a drainage system in the middle. On the south side, the room with the circular, quadrilobed interior had a mosaic of Ceres and a cornucopia. A series of agricultural buildings and other gardens joined it on the north side.

Plans

Fig. 1 Plan of the Villa de Los Villares, Santervás del Burgo, Soria
Credit: Gorges, Planche XLV

Bibliography

  • M.ª C. Fernández Castro, Villas romanas en Hispania, Madrid, 1982. (worldcat)
  • J. M. Blázquez, Los jardines en la Hispania Romana, in Historia de los Parques y Jardines en España. Edita Grupo FCC, Madrid, 2001, p. 33 (worldcat)

Keywords

Places