
Our latest day trip was to Alicante to the Albufereta area near Alicante to visit the archaeological site and the remains of the town built by Carthage and Rome (variously named Lucentum, Ákra Lueké and Lacant) with remains of the town’s forum, public baths, temples, workshops and houses. We spent an hour exploring the site which is very well maintained and explained (but not shaded, so trying to protect ourselves all the time from the sun).
After visiting the site we got back into the minibus for the transfer to the museum (quite close by but too far to walk on a hot day). The Alicante Archaeological Museum (Marq) has organised an exhibition, “Ciudades de Luz” (Cities of Light), displaying artefacts from the different towns built on the site. The exhibition was scheduled to close in May but has been extended until September, so we were taking the opportunity to visit it. We were impressed by the exhibition’s scope and concept, which helps visitors understand what life was like there 2000 years ago. At the end, there is a section devoted to the work of archaeologists at the site over many decades to preserve and understand what remains of the town.
After that exhibition, we moved on to the permanent exhibition, which is also very impressive and shows Calpe’s fish farm (“Baños de la Reina”). But too soon, it was time for our lunch reservation at the “Barq” restaurant, and we had to hurry, so many of us came away wanting to return another day to see more.
For more details about the exhibition see the Announcement about the trip.