Cape Trafalgar in Canos de Meca
Canos de Meca has been important throughout history. There is a burial ground from the bronze age. Recently you may have heard that they have found new Roman ruins in Cape Trafalgar and in the beach nearby Canos de Meca. There are also the ruins of an “almenara tower” used to defend the Spanish coast in medieval times. In this blog post I will be talking about these Roman ruins in Canos de Meca, Barbate.
Cape Trafalgar history
Cape Trafalgar was an island that joined with the mainland 6000 years ago. It is within the natural park of La Breña within Caños de Meca in Barbate. This natural park has 5 ecosystems and one of them are the sand dunes, which is why the ruins are so well conserved.
Bronze age burial site in Cape Trafalgar
They found a burial site near Cape Trafalgar which is around 4.000 years ago. This burial site was in a cave in the rocks, completely intact. They found the bodies of 6 women and a child within a cave with some jewellery.
Roman Ruins in cape Trafalgar
The archeologists found what they think to be the largest Roman villa in Southern Spain near Cape Trafalgar. Archaeologists from the University of Cadiz found that people lived here from the 1st century B.C. until the 5th century A.C.
There is a Roman road that crosses near Canos de Meca. They have recently uncovered a salted fish factory linked to this Roman villa. Most probably they used coastal fish instead of open water fish like tuna. In Baelo Claudia, as it is in a sandy coastal beach instead of rocky beach, Romans used mostly open water fish like bluefin tuna, albacore tuna and more. In these salted fish factories Romans made Garum sauce and exported it to the Roman empire.
This salted fish factory is near the lighthouse in Cape Trafalgar. As you can see there are many large basins, where the garum was made with a few adjacent rooms. They have found 13 basins
They also found Roman ruins near Canos de Meca, most probably a very large Roman village.
This village even had a Roman bath, first ruin they found in 2021. They buried it back up to prevent any vandalization to these ruins during the tourist season.
They discovered many valuable objects that they will be taken to a museum. Archaeologists think that the size of this villa could be around 500 square metres.
Cape Trafalgar in medieval times
There is an old tower adjacent to the lighthouse. The moors started building many of the towers that we see throughout the coastline for defensive purposes. They started building them after the attacks on different civilizations like the attack of the vikings from Normandy to Cadiz city. However in the 16th century the kings Carlos the Emperor and Philip II restored them and built more for defensive purposes. During the day they used smoke signals and during the night fire arrows to alert the population inland. Nobles like the dukes of Medina Sidonia here in Cadiz also built some of the towers we see.
The dukes of Medina Sidonia built them to have a higher viewpoint to be able to see when the bluefin tuna was migrating to the Mediterranean to spawn. If you are interested in this, please click here to read my blog on the importance of bluefin tuna in Cadiz.
Private day tours near Canos de Meca, Spain
I hope you liked this blog about the newly discovered Roman ruins in Canos de Meca. My name is Carlos and I have a tour agency based in Vejer de la Frontera, Explore la Tierra. I focus on doing private culinary tours, cultural and hiking tours within Cadiz province. Please, read below what type of activities I do. I am certain you may want to join some of them!
Food and culinary Tours in Cadiz
Cadiz province is home of one of the most known international wines, the famous sherry wine. I do private sherry and Andalusian wine tastings throughout Cadiz province. Join our culinary and cultural tours where we go and visit the famous white towns of Cadiz. Learn about the traditional bluefin tuna fishing method, almadraba, or visit a local olive press, almazara near Canos de Meca. I look forward to showing you the incredibly diverse gastronomy and traditions that the province has to offer.
If you are interested in a sherry winery tour Please watch the next video to see what do we do in the sherry winery tour:
Hiking tours in the natural parks of Cadiz
In these private guided hiking day trips from Rota in Cadiz province I offer incredible hikes in La Breña, El Estrecho and Los Alcornocales natural parks. In fact, I will talk about local traditions and about the culinary, medicinal and gastronomical use of the Mediterranean plants. I worked in the environmental and conservation fields in Canada, UK and Spain for over 5 years and know many of the species in the area.
Cadiz province is one of the most biodiverse provinces in mainland Spain. In fact, habitats range from dense forest reminiscent of cloud forest to Mediterranean forest, dune systems, and more. Moreover, enjoy the majestic views of Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. Cadiz has the highest % of protected habitat in Andalusia, while its climate and sunlight hours are similar to Canary Islands. I look forward to showing you this incredibly diverse province in the most southern point of mainland Spain.
Contact us
If you are looking into nice private tours in Cadiz province, please contact us. If you want to join me in any of these tours, please do not hesitate to visit my website and contact me at info@explorelatierra.com.
I hope you liked this blog about the Roman ruins in cape Trafalgar. To learn more about sherry, culture and Andalusia travel guides, please click the big blue button to read other blog posts. On the other hand, If you have any ideas and suggestions, please do not hesitate to write us an email at info@explorelatierra.com. Please read our privacy policy before you get in touch with us. We will take your new recommendations into consideration.
