The works prior to the construction of the Parc Circular Mataró-Maresme have uncovered archaeological remains of great importance for discovering the origin of the city. In order to preserve the find, the City Council, in agreement with the Department of Culture of the Generalitat, has decided to move the remains to the green area of Bon Repòs and create an interpretation center in the Can Prat house.
The Parc Circular Mataró-Maresme is an innovative project at a European level promoted by the Consorci de Tractament de Residus del Maresme and which has European funds, which could be lost if the project is delayed. It is a park in which several integrated activities will be carried out under the principles of the circular economy to give a new life to waste, which has a budget of 20 million euros and which will generate more than 211 jobs, of of which 105 will be people at social risk.
Given the appearance of important archaeological remains on the site of the future circular park, which once housed the historic Glassworks factory and whose archaeological site is known as Ca La Madrona, the municipal government has been faced with the dilemma of preserving both projects. Hence, according to the experts of the Generalitat, it has decided to move the remains of the Visigothic period 200 meters further north, in a green area where an old rural house is located.
In the excavations, as detailed yesterday by Glòria Brusati, director of Culture of the Mataró City Council, and Carme Puerta, the municipal archaeologist, remains from three periods were found, the most recent from the 19th century that would correspond to the industrial exploitation of the area, during which many remains would have been destroyed by continuous localized earth movements. Other finds are from the 14th century and are Roman remains and from an extensive cultivation area (1st to 4th century AD). But the most important are the findings from the Visigothic period, between the 5th and 7th centuries AD: a wall that could be from a cult center and a large necropolis with 99 tombs.
According to experts, there are few Visigothic sites in Catalonia, such as the one located in the Rocafonda neighborhood, which would give rise to the nucleus of the population of Mata, a place name that would be related to the current Mataró and from whose remains data can be extracted to fill the gap. of information on the historical stretch between the late Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. The importance of the remains, although they are not catalogued, obliges the City Council to preserve and conserve them.
The first proposals for the remains to share a space in the future circular park were rejected by the Generalitat technicians, more in favor of its transfer to a new location, such as the one proposed by the Consistory, the green area where the urban gardens are located. from Bon Repòs, 200 meters from the old glassware site in the Mata-Rocafonda industrial estate.
As explained by the director of Urbanism of the Mataró City Council, Xavier Alemany, the urbanization project contemplates the creation of a new urban park and an interpretation center integrated into the green area, which would be located in the rural house of Can Prats, with two 160 m2 floors and which is currently in disuse and which would become the centerpiece of the museum project.
The law allows the use of 5% of a green area for cultural uses, so the enclave is ideal to host the archaeological interpretation center that Brusati advanced that will have the latest virtual reality technologies to allow recreations of the Visigothic era in killed This area is also part of the 'Anella Verda' and is a natural viewpoint to the agricultural area of les Cinc Sènies.
Very little information exists in Catalonia precisely from the Visigothic period, hence the importance of the discovery of Rocafonda. It would be a settlement of peasants and people with few resources who would follow the Visigothic army around 450 AD from central Europe to settle in areas where they were not expelled, according to the municipal archaeologist.
At that time there were two different Visigothic communities, that of Alarona and that of Santa María, of which from 1008 there are documents that describe it as Civitas Fracta (city divided into two parts, fragmented). These two communities were separated by religion, some practiced Arianism and the other Christianity. Other data that will reveal more details will be confirmed by DNA tests and others that will be carried out on the skeletons found in the necropolis.
The Mataró Councilor for Culture, Xesco Gomar, stressed the need to carry out the two projects, as well as the circular economy park, a differential element at a European level that has the participation of public and private companies. "It is key to promote the park, because otherwise we would lose the Next Generation funds" that the European Union has allocated to the project.
On the other hand, giving museum value to the Visigothic archaeological find, according to Gomar "is a great opportunity for the Rocafonda neighborhood and put it on the map." The City Council will commission the museumization project of the findings so that in the medium term they become a reality to create a new cultural reference in the city.
