Tuesday 11th March 2008

Having said goodbye to Shirley and Ian, we set off for Elche and the archaeological site of La Alcudia. We took an alternative route down from El Berro, travelling along a ridge with beautiful views to the plains and then made our way to the main coast road. This was largely uninspiring but enabled us to progress quickly and we arrived at La Alcudia before noon. The site was run by a university and used for research and to teach students how to excavate. Unfortunately, they didn't set a good example in writing up their finds or presenting them well. There was very little English in the museum but that was not my complaint. There were very few labels on the exhibits and when they were present, they often only had a single word in Spanish. Although the rooms were arranged chronologically, there was no further dating on the finds. Very poor. The site itself was a little better in that there were explanation boards in Spanish and Catalan but visitors were not allowed in any of the excavated areas – one could only view the ruins from the elevated path. Amazingly, there were no guide books in any language, despite the fact that this is an important site with Iberian, Roman and Visigoth occupations. They uncovered the 'Lady of Elche', a major polychrome Iberian masterpiece, at the site and this is now held in a museum in Madrid. They were building an 'Interpretation Centre', so we can only hope that things improved. On the positive side, the entrance fee at €2.50, was cheap and, with the temperature in the late twenties, it was a pleasant walk around the site.
After a shop and the nearby Lidl, we moved on to a busy campsite at Santa Pola for an overnight stop.
Photos: View from ridge in the Espuna National Park; Decorated Iberian pot from the 'Helenistic' period (late 3rd century BC?). The decoration shows a horse and a figure that may be a female deity but, as Jane remarked, looks like a Mediaeval jester!; A replica of the 'Lady of Elche'.