Villa de Benicató

Published: 2026-10-01
Last modified: 2026-10-01

Dates

mid-second century CE

Excavation Dates

1883; 1955

Location Description

Nules is about 47 km north-northeast of Valencia. The villa lies 2.4 straight-line km south-southeast of the center of town and 2.95 km back from the present coastline. Surrounded by orange groves, it was not yet, in 2007, officially visitable. It was, however, in the care of the Servicio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Prehistóricas of the Province of Castellón, which planned, after proper preparation, to open it to the public. Rooms are clearly outlined by walls about 50 centimeters high.

Garden Description

The first finds go back to 1883. Part of the site was acquired by the provincial government in 1954 and archaeological work was begun the next year, but the reports remain unpublished. The villa from the middle of the 2nd century evolved around a peristyle garden with a large circular pool, 7.6 meters in inside diameter, in the middle. A paved corridor led to the pool from the north gallery of the peristyle. There were baths and two rooms with mosaic floors. Most rooms, however, had floors of hammered earth.

Plans

Plan of Villa de Benicató at Nules, Castellón Province, Spain
Fig. 1: Plan of the Villa de Benicto.
Credit: Adapted from Gorges, Planche XXXIV.

Bibliography

  • M.ª C. Fernández Castro, Villas romanas en Hispania, Madrid, 1982. (worldcat)
  • J. G. Gorges, Les villas hispano-romaines: Inventaire et Problématique Archéologiques (Publications du Centre Pierre Paris IV). Paris: de Boccard, 1979, 245. (worldcat)
  • F. Gusi and C. Olaria, La villa romana de Benicató (Nules, Castellón). Cuadernos de Prehistoria y, Arqueología Castellonenses, 4, (1996) pp. 101-144. SIAP. Diputación Provincial. Castellón de la Plana. (worldcat)
  • F. Gusi, C. Olaria, and F. Arasa: El procés de romanització a la Plana. La villa de Benicató (Nules). Actes del Vè Congrés d’Història i Filologia de la Plana (Nules, 1998), pp. 35-74.
  • 4D model of site

Keywords

Places