Guardamar’s La Fonteta excavation reveals 60 metres of Phoenician wall and two towers

The latest research campaign at La Fonteta in Guardamar del Segura has uncovered 60 metres of Phoenician wall and two towers belonging to its defensive system, following a month of work in the archaeological park.

The excavation, carried out under the General Research Plan, has finished and is giving way to work to stabilise and enhance the newly uncovered remains in order to ensure their conservation.

Final conclusions are still pending

Those responsible for the work have highlighted the importance of the structures and described them as an exceptional defensive complex, although the campaign’s final conclusions have yet to be completed.

Meanwhile, maintenance has begun in the visitor areas of La Fonteta and La Ràbita, with work continuing over the coming weeks to strengthen the protection of both archaeological sites.

The end of the excavation therefore opens a phase focused on conserving the remains, while the study of its results will help to develop knowledge of the municipality’s Phoenician past.

A port city at the mouth of the Segura

La Fonteta is an ancient Phoenician port city at the mouth of the River Segura, close to the Rábita Califal and within the municipality of Guardamar del Segura.

The complex has protected Bien de Interés Cultural status and preserves an urban layout from the Phoenician colonial period, dated between the eighth and fifth centuries BC.

As background to the site, earlier excavations have documented a monumental wall with a bastion, perimeter streets and homes built against its inner face, as well as residential neighbourhoods outside the fortified enclosure.

Materials recovered over the course of research at La Fonteta include Phoenician pottery, such as plates, amphorae and red-slipped lamps, together with examples of archaic Greek pottery found at the site.

Objects connected with metalworking and funerary stelae have also been found, forming a body of material heritage that accompanies the buildings and helps to explain life in the ancient city.