Tower of Sant Josep

La Vila Joiosa is history. Very close to the Mediterranean, almost on its shore, on Torres Beach, we discover the Tower of Sant Josep, a funerary monument dedicated to Lucius Terentius Marcinus. It was built between 150-170 AD and is the largest of the three Roman funerary towers preserved in Spain. In 1543, when the city walls were destroyed by Barbary corsairs, the tower´s top stones were used to rebuild them. Fortunately, some ashlars were left behind and that is how it was possible to find out how the original tower was, and finally restore it.

The tower was completely enclosed except for holes on two sides for libations, offerings of wine to revive the deceased.

The tower was surrounded by a wall that contained one of the largest known Roman funerary enclosures in Europe. This enclosure had pedestals with statues and a garden with plants related to the eternity. The garden has now been recreated around the tower with the plants that could originally be found there, such as red rose, laurel, vine, ivy, myrtle, lavender and cypress, as well as acanthus, related to the tower. The garden is named after Elaine Evans, who patronised the restoration of the monument.

The Romans used the sides of the roads as burial places, so when people passed by they would remember the death . This tower was not built to be contemplated from a road but near the ‘highway’ of the time, the Mediterranean. In this way all those who sailed along the Mare Nostrum could clearly see the tower and remember Lucius Terentius.