Territory
The area of influence of the city was occupied by numerous villae dedicated to agriculture and livestock farming, but the greatest resource that Segobriga had in Roman times was the lapis specularisa translucent gypsum, mainly used as window glass.
Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis HistoriaThe production area reached a space of 100,000 paces around SegobrigaThis means a circle of almost 300 km in diameter and an extension of 70,000 km2. From Pliny's reference it can also be deduced that the city was the centre of economic control and commercialisation of the lapis specularisexported via the port of Carthago Nova (Cartagena, Murcia) to the rest of the imperial provinces. Today we know that the windows of the dwellings in Pompeii and Herculaneum used the much-prized Segobrigian "glass".
This vast territory was dotted with establishments dedicated to the extraction of this mineral. Around them were settlements where the mine workers lived and craft establishments dedicated to the manufacture of, among other things, esparto grass baskets for transporting the ore, iron tools for its extraction and clothes and clothing for the workers. At the foot of the mines there were ore processing centres where the ore was classified by size and quality and sawed into standardised modules of different shapes and sizes, suitable for sale.
The intense building activity of the period augustea and later decades in Segobriga to provide the city with a monumental public space should be related to the profits obtained through the exploitation and trade of the lapis specularis.
Its distribution route was carried out via a land route that directly linked Segobriga with the port of Carthago Nova (Cartagena, Murcia), from where it was exported by sea to the rest of the Empire. Today we know that the windows of the dwellings of Pompeii and Herculaneum used Segobrigian "glass".
The intense building activity of the period augustea and later decades in Segobriga to provide the city with a monumental public space should be related to the profits obtained through the exploitation and trade of the lapis specularis
The area around the archaeological site currently has important and abundant archaeological remains of this mining activity. The mines that have been located are always underground and have numerous signs and records that allow us to interpret the way in which they were worked. Some of them are open to visitors.
- Osa de la Vega. The visitor has at his disposal here the Centro de Estudios e Interpretación de la Minería Romana del Lapis SpecularisThe La Condenada mine is an exhibition and educational resource to learn about the work done with this material in Roman times. The La Condenada mine can be visited on an underground route on three levels accessible by means of shafts and carved staircases, galleries and ramps.
- Saceda del Río in Huete. In some of the caves of Sanabrio, many sections of the caves have not yet been extracted, so that the crystals of the lapis specularisThe natural arrangement of the ore allows us to know the layout of the ore before cutting operations.
- Torrejoncillo del Rey. La Mora Encantada has a kilometre of galleries more than 40 metres deep. Two extraction shafts have been preserved and a sloping entrance with steps carved into the ground. It is divided into three rooms: the main room, the eastern galleries and a third, deeper area, which is frequently flooded. Its walls show traces of the original chiselling from the quarrying of the lapis specularis.
Go on an underground adventure with a visit to the lapis specularis mines!
Ctra. Carrascosa de Campo a Villamayor de Santiago, s/n, E-16430 Saelices (Cuenca).
Telephone Interpretation Centre: 629 75 22 57
Mail: segobriga@dipucuenca.es
Credits:
Design and implementation: Tragsa Group. Contents: Rosario Cebrián Fernández (Lecturer in Archaeology at the UCM) with the collaboration of the Tragsa Group.
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