Villa of Fortunatus

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

unspecified

Excavation Dates

1926 to 1936

Garden Description

On the left bank of the Cinca about 5 km upstream (north) of Fraga, at the top of a steep bank, this villa sits some fifteen meters above the river below. At high water, the villa could have fairly easily floated its products to the sea. It had a view of the fertile plain on the right bank. The site has been known since at least 1893 and was excavated almost clandestinely between 1926 and 1936; no reports are known. The site was occupied from the Republican period, but a new atrium-style house was constructed in the second century. At the end of the third or beginning of the fourth century, a peristyle (20.5 x 17 m.) with a garden was added. In the center of the north side was a long, narrow, brick pool raised above ground level. On it were paintings of fish and aquatic plants. Both ends of the pool are semicircular. At the east end of the pool was a well, 12-14 meters deep, which provided water for the garden. The galleries surrounding the garden were all paved in mosaic. In the triclinium or reception room on the south side of the garden the mosaic, with floral designs and animals, bears in its border the name of builder written in two parts, FORTU and NATUS, separated by the Christian symbol of the crossed Χ and Ρ and the letters ω and α. Later, a palaeochristian chapel was installed and remained intact until the sixth century. (B?)

Plans

Plan of the Villa of Fortunatus, Fraga, Huesca.

Credit: Gorges, Planche XLII

Bibliography

J. de C. Serra Ráfols, "La villa Fortunatus de Fraga," in Ampurias V. CSIC, Barcelona, 1943, pp. 6-35 (worldcat)
R. Puertas Tricas, Trabajos de planimetría y excavación en la "Villa Fortunatus", Fraga (Huesca), Noticiario Arqueológico Hispánico, Arqueología, 1. Madrid, 1972, pp. 71-81 (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. 29. (worldcat)
J.G. Gorges, Les villas hispano-romaines. Inventaire et problématique archéologique. Centre Pierre Paris, París, 1979, pp. 267-8. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places

Villa Fortunatus (Pleiades:250021)

Fraga on Gardens of the Roman Empire