Roca Vecchia, the oldest human settlement in the Mediterranean

Along the Salento coast, a few kilometers from Otranto, on a slight promontory overlooking the sea stands the settlement of Roca Vecchia, a place inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC, rich in history and important archaeological evidence. Enchanting for the beauty of the landscape, the emerald waters, its natural pools and the Grotta della Poesia.

Excavations in the Roca Vecchia area have documented uninterrupted occupation of the territory from the end of the 17th century BC to the Iron, Archaic and Messapian Ages up to the late Roman Republican era.

Considered one of the most important settlements in Mediterranean proto-history for the quantity and quality of the evidence found.

The proximity to Illyria and Greece, from which the mountain ranges can be observed, and the presence of rich deposits of fresh water, have made Roca one of the richest and most complex settlements in the Mediterranean basin.

Many works found during excavations in the archaeological park are located in the Museum of the Civilization of Roca, set up in the castle of Acaya.

Since the Bronze Age, Roca has suffered at least three major destructions by fire and a tragic siege. In the first decades of the 14th century BC, in fact, the coastal towns were attacked, including Roca: the town was set on fire and suffered a real siege followed by a violent battle. Evidence of the siege is the discovery of the remains of some of the protagonists of this story who remained buried under the rubble for three thousand five hundred years.

The posterns and ravines were often used as shelters, and excavations have brought to light several everyday objects and ceramics. But in postern C, 7 skeletons of those who were trying to escape were also found: a man, a woman, a teenager, two young boys and two small children. Probably a family unit.

Destroyed countless times, the center of Roca was then abandoned and repopulated in the Middle Ages, when Gualtieri di Bienne, Count of Lecce, rebuilt Roca making it a fortified city. After the Turkish raids, the inhabitants began to abandon it, then around the middle of the sixteenth century they took refuge in the hinterland, literally dismantling the old settlement.

The archaeological area of ​​Roca Vecchia extends for over thirty hectares, containing important testimonies from different eras.

It is in fact possible to see the remains of the imposing fortifications of the Bronze Age settlement with their main entrance, the Monumental Gate, and the smaller corridors, the so-called posterns.

It is one of the largest Bronze Age masonry works in the Mediterranean basin. The Monumental Gate in particular is surprising for its size: an overall thickness of at least 25 meters and a maximum height estimated between 8 and 10 meters.

Along the route there is the so-called Cult Center, a cult space for ritual banquets and animal sacrifices, dating back to the Recent Bronze Age. On the promontory it is possible to visit part of the medieval citadel with the remains of the surrounding walls, the church, some houses, and a ritual underground area. The castle, however, has not yet been fully brought to light.

Also of considerable importance is the Messapian area, with the imposing walls still clearly visible along their entire length of over 1 km, and the coastal strip with traces of foundations of square-plan buildings, the wells, the necropolis, which is found both inside and outside the fenced area of ​​the Park, along the coast overlooking the sea that leads to the Grotta Santuario.