My third visit to Trujillo (4) La Alberca

La Alberca

One of the first recorded mentions of Trujillo are in the writings of Higinius, a Roman under Tragen. Trujillo is described as a colony dependent on Augusta Emerita, modern day Merida. Trujillo was known as Turgallium, a primitive defensive village, during the Roman epoch (206 BC-414 AC). Through time the name morphed until it achieved its current formulation. The higher part of the city is where one will find evidence that the Romans ever settled here. La Alberca (water reservoir) is a natural spring converted into a "bath". Other reminders of the Roman presence may lie buried beneath Trujillo.


Behind the church of San Andrés is La Alberca (from the Albirka), a building many scholars believe to have been a Roman bath. It is eleven meters deep, formed by three natural springs and at the bottom a Roman stone can be found, with some carving but no inscription. It was reformed by the Arabs for irrigation. It was used as a public bath until 1935. At that time women went to bathe in the morning and men in the afternoon. In front of the entrance is a late Medieval sarcophagus, which has found a new function as a drinking trough for cattle. (Lancia Publications, page32)