La Alcudia

La Alcudia
Interactive map of La Alcudia
Alternative nameL'Alcúdia
LocationElche, Valencian Community, Spain
History
AbandonedMiddle Ages

La Alcudia, also l'Alcúdia, is an archaeological site near Elche and the Vinalopó river corresponding to the ancient city of Ilici.[1]

The coastline of the lower Segura and Vinalopó región has changed substantially in the last 15,000 years, and by 1 CE, the site was located in one of the two branches of the Vinalopó delta that discharged into a now disappeared Sinus Ilicitanus.[2]

It has been intermittently inhabited for six millennia, with the earliest phase of occupation corresponding to the Neolithic.[3] It was a noted centre in the Iberian period.[4] During the Roman period, it was refounded as Colonia Iulia Ilici c. 43-42 BCE and as Colonia Iulia Ilici Augusta c. 27-26 BCE.[5] Noted ruins from late antiquity include a Christian church, identified by some as a synagogue.[6][n. 1] Following the 8th-century Islamic conquest the place languished.[3]

It was declared bien de interés cultural in 1992.[8]

Informational notes

  1. ^ The synagogue proposal was driven by the finding of texts on the paviment identified as Jewish, although Helmut Schlunk proved the existence of such texts in other Eastern churches.[7]

References

  1. ^ "About La Alcudia". San Vicente del Raspeig: UA. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  2. ^ Tent-Manclús, José Enrique (2013). "Cambio de la línea de costa en el Bajo Segura (Sur de Alicante) en los últimos 15.000 años" [Coast line change in the Bajo Segura (South of Alicante) in the last 15,000 years]. Estudios Geográficos. 74 (275). Madrid: Editorial CSIC: 697. doi:10.3989/estgeogr.201324. hdl:10045/35321. ISSN 0014-1496.
  3. ^ a b Tendero Porras 2021, p. 312.
  4. ^ Gutiérrez Lloret, Sonia; Papí Rodes, Concha; Ramos Molina, Alejandro; Ronda Femenía, Ana M.ª; Tendero Porras, Mercedes (2017). "Jornada «20 años de la Fundación Universitaria La Alcudia de Investigación Arqueológica»" (PDF). Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional. 36. Museo Arqueológico Nacional. ISSN 2341-3409.
  5. ^ Gutiérrez Lloret et al. 2017, p. 502.
  6. ^ Abad Casal, Lorenzo (2008). "La Alcudia de Elche (Alicante). Ayer y hoy de un yacimiento emblemático". Viejos yacimientos: nuevas aportaciones: ciclo de conferencias, 10-11 de diciembre de 2008. Madrid: Museo Arqueológico Nacional. pp. 196–197.
  7. ^ Abad Casal 2008, pp. 196–197.
  8. ^ Tendero Porras, Mercedes (2021). "La Alcudia (Elche, Alicante)". 150 años con los íberos. Albacete: Diputación de Albacete. p. 312.