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The City Council of Cartagena, through the Director General of Historical and Archaeological Heritage, Mari Carmen Berrocal, has sent a report to the Ombudsman which sets out the background to the current archaeological interventions in the Plaza de la Merced (2001 -2002, 2014-2015 and situation after completion of the archaeological action in 2015), as well as the actions undertaken last year in terms of infrastructure and cleaning and maintenance of the archaeological site.

The report also includes measures to be undertaken soon in the environment such as the performance on the southern façade of the plaza de la Merced within the project to upgrade the PERI CA-4, works awarded by the company Casco Antiguo de Cartagena.

Likewise, a comprehensive intervention project will be carried out making compatible the maintenance and the visit to the city of the Roman and Punic period with a public place of historical character.

BACKGROUND AND ACTIONS IN 2016

It is worth remembering that, in mid-2015, the excavations were resumed in the Plaza de la Merced, documenting the existence there of a nympho of Roman times and remains of a house of the Punic period.

In those moments, the square counted on an opaque fence of corrugated sheet, showing the pavement numerous breaks due to the machinery that worked during the works.

That year also the partial cover of the structures is realized after the excavation.

At the beginning of 2016, after completing the archaeological excavations, the square had a double fencing surrounding the two excavation areas leaving an intermediate step in diagonal, in addition to presenting other deficiencies since the pavement had numerous breaks, the archaeological remains were semi-covered with A chamizo and the lighting was insufficient.

In the same period, the work of the Coordination of Historical and Archaeological Heritage began, within the area of ​​Archaeological Heritage of the Town Hall, with the aim of making compatible the preservation of the archaeological heritage with the habitability of the environment for the citizens of Cartagena.

Due to the fact that the square could not be completely open because there was no urban project of intervention or budgetary appropriation to continue in a near term with the excavations, an intervention was devised that contemplated the protection of the archaeological structures and the adequacy of the square.

For this purpose, a joint project between Infrastructures, Heritage, Tourism and Casco Antiguo was carried out, for a sum of 64,418.37 euros, for the covering of structures and general arrangement of the square, the placement of explanatory signs, the consolidation and Protection of the Roman road and the suitability of the perimetral steel.

At the infrastructure level, this project sought to partially restore the Plaza de la Merced to the previous state before the excavation works, as well as put into value the archaeological remains.

This action has allowed us to contemplate the Decumano Máximo, assuming a patrimonial area of ​​the first order, through the placement of an electrowelded mesh around the Roman road.

In addition, the archaeological caves have been clogged up to the level of passage, the restoration to the initial geometry of the garden beds with original pieces, the realization of pipes to evacuate rainwater given the slope of the square, the channeling, wiring And installation of new service luminaires.

Also installed a system of surveillance cameras in the square that are connected to the headquarters of the Local Police.

Subsequently, a new intervention was carried out on the worst preserved section of the sidewalk in front of the Local Police barracks, a new reinforced concrete floor was built and included, for the first time in this environment, the recesses for pedestrian crossings that favor Accessibility.

Similarly, from the municipal area of ​​Jardines, proceeded to pruning and sanitation of the trees.

EXPLANATORY PANELS

In order to promote publicity, respect for archeology and heritage awareness by neighbors and tourists, last year six posters were installed on the fencing of the road, as well as two other posters in the access to the square.

It is noteworthy that the posters have QR codes that allow to receive all the information in both Spanish and English, as well as contain not only considerations about this deposit but also a historical review of this public space.

FUTURE INTERVENTIONS

In the Plaza de la Merced the knowledge of Roman and Punic Cartagena must be made compatible with the transit through a public square of historical character.

To this end, we work on a proposal that establishes a double level of passage, with a top floor that maintains the surface of the current image of the city and in the subsoil, the archaeological remains.

To do this, first, a study will analyze the foundation of this possible forge, and it is necessary to carry out soundings of extraction of continuous cores to verify the presence of the rock in the subsoil, since, despite the excavations Archaeological, the rocky substrate has not been reached.

With the obtaining of these indispensable data for the calculation of the structures, it will be possible to advance in the project that makes possible the coexistence between the historical patrimony and the present city.

Another of the next measures to be implemented in the short term in this environment is the performance on the southern façade of the plaza de la Merced within the project to upgrade the PERI CA-4, works that have already been awarded by the company Casco Old Cartagena.

Source: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena