His Majesty King Felipe VI inaugurates the museum of the Roman Forum in Cartagena

Reportaje

05/05/2021

This museum represents the last phase of the archaeological project to recover and enhance the Roman Forum of Cartagena This has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the Repsol Foundation, which has invested 4.7 million euros since 2013 to restore this historical treasure that promotes the economy and the cultural development of the city.

This morning, His Majesty King Felipe VI inaugurated the Roman Forum Molinete Museum in Cartagena, an exceptional place that completes the archaeological project to recover and enhance the Roman Forum of Cartagena. As an example of Repsol's commitment to the environment where it operates, it had the support of the Repsol Foundation, with a total investment of 4,74 million euros over the last 8 years.

The opening of this museum is a milestone for Cartagena, as it will boost the economic, social, and cultural development of the city. The Roman Forum recovery project, including the museum, promoted by the Repsol Foundation and the Cartagena City Council, through the Cartagena Puerto de Culturas consortium, is an example of collaboration between the public and private sectors. It also had the participation of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Region of Murcia and the Ministries of Culture and Sports and Science and Innovation. The scientific management was led by the University of Murcia, with the participation of different experts.

In addition to the Minister of Culture and Sports, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, they were joined by the Head of State, Fernando López Miras, President of the Region of Murcia; Alberto Castillo Baños, President of the Murcia Regional Assembly; José Vélez Fernández, Government Delegate of the Region of Murcia; Ana Belén Castejón Hernández, Mayor of Cartagena; Juan Luis Sobrino Pérez-Crespo, Admiral-in-Chief of Maritime Action, and Antonio Brufau, Chairman of the Repsol Foundation. In addition, on the tour of the Archaeological Park, led by the excavation Director, José Miguel Noguera, he was joined, among others, by the Executive Managing Director of the Repsol Foundation, António Calçada; and the Director of the Repsol refinery in Cartagena, Antonio Mestre.

During the inauguration, attendees were able to visit the museum's facilities, an area of more than 2,500 square meters, containing more than 350 pieces on display, including important finds recovered during the project. In addition, it serves as a starting point to explain to visitors the different areas that made up the centre of ancient Cartagena, displaying more than 2,200 years of history of the Molinete Archaeological Park and of Cartagena itself, from when the Punics founded the city up to the twentieth century.

The museum is divided into three floors. The first floor houses an introductory space on the Molinete hill, and a room where the main pieces found in recent years are exhibited, dating from the 3rd century BC to the 20th century AD. Among them are the well preserved wall paintings of Apollo and two Muses (first century AD). On the middle floor, there is an extraordinary collection of Byzantine and late Roman pieces. On the top floor, which connects to the Archaeological Park, exhibits objects from the Roman period and an inscription about the Praetorium Prefect of Advent Advento.

Roman Forum

Located on the historic hill of Molinete, one of the five hills where the Roman city was built, the Roman Forum of Cartagena is one of the largest in Europe and a symbol of the city's cultural heritage. The most important public buildings in Carthago Nova were located there.

In 2013, the Repsol Foundation signed a collaboration agreement with the Cartagena City Council to carry out the recovery project in this historic enclave. Since then, conservation and restoration work of the archaeological site has been carried out. People can now walk through the old roads of Carthago Nova and learn what life was like in the capital of Roman Hispania during the second and first and second centuries BC In addition, important finds have been made, including thermal baths of the port, the atrium building, the sanctuary of Isis or the discovery of the MVSAS, three wall paintings of Apollo and the Muses, which can be seen in the new museum.

Thanks to this initiative, the city centre of Cartagena will become one of the most important urban archaeological museums in the country, promoting the economic and cultural development of the city.