Jerez de los Caballeros, Come and Discover
The history of Jerez de los Caballeros is long and extensive, as proved by the numerous Roman sites that we have in the municipality. The best known of them is the Suburban Domus ‘El Pomar ‘, whose importance and magnificence have made it the protagonist of the celebration of Domus Iulia which is a meeting that brings together various activities and where this monument is always the main protagonist.
This country house is located in the surrounding area of the Roman Jerez de los Caballeros, known at that time as Seria Fama Iulia. Its construction period dates from the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century AD.
The villa is developed around an arched courtyard (peristylum) that originally had marble columns, a large central garden (viridarium) and a fountain adorned with a set of statues. The pavement surrounding the courtyard was formed by a series of mosaics with geometric compositions, plants, anthropomorphic figures and animals.
The main hall (oecus) preserves a mosaic divided into three sections. One part consists of marine motifs. The second presents a decoration representing Bacchus (Dionysus in Greek), the god of wine, festivities and theater. The last one is a representation of a charioteer, winner of the ancient Circus races, mounted on his chariot, the name given to the carriages pulled by four horses.
We also found a room with a semicircular finish at the bottom so that it could be both the office of the owner of the villa (tablinum) which is a place where the owner of the house received guests and managed his business, and a dining room (triclinium).
There are different rooms distributed around the courtyard which operate as bedrooms (cubiculum). These rooms received light and ventilation from the courtyard and one of them still has mosaics on the floor.
In a corner of the house we find the space of what could be possible thermal baths. Its location and structure lead us to think that we are talking about a hot water pool (caldarium) although there is nothing preserved of the oven that heated it (hypocaust). Near these possible baths is the starting point of a staircase, an indication that hints that this villa may have had at least a second floor.
Dedicated to agricultural and livestock farming exploitation, we can determine, thanks to its mosaics and dimensions, that it belonged to a wealthy family (probably a Roman patrician who lived here with his family and his servants). This construction helps us to understand and contextualize the Roman settlement in this area of Extremadura during the 3th and 4th centuries AD.