- The exhibition will open at 18:00 this Wednesday and will remain open to the public until 29 June 2025 with free admission.
- The councillor for Historical Heritage has highlighted the work carried out by the municipal archaeological service ‘which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023’.
- In January, the temporary exhibition hall of the Centre Arqueológic de l’Almoina will display a complementary exhibition, which will focus on the more human side of archaeology.
The councillor for Historical Heritage, José Luis Moreno, has highlighted the work carried out by the municipal archaeological service, ‘which in 2023 celebrated its 75th anniversary and with this exhibition we want to commemorate this anniversary, at the same time as exhibiting a selection of the most representative pieces of the city’s history’.
Moreno made these statements during the presentation of the exhibition ‘75 anys,75 peces. A look at the history of SIAM’, which is being held in the Exhibition Hall of the Town Hall and which was also attended by the head of the Municipal Archaeological Research Service, Pepa Pascual, who explained the importance of certain pieces and the configuration of the 5 rooms that make up the exhibition, as well as members of the service.
The councillor for Heritage explained the peculiarity of the exhibition route, which shows 75 pieces representative of all the historical periods of València, and which ‘has been approached in a different way as if it were an archaeological excavation in which room by room we advance through the layers of the terrain, from the most modern to the most ancient levels, to reach the origins of València’.
Moreno also invited the public to visit the exhibition, which is ‘very interesting because it helps us to learn more about our city and an archaeological service, which is perhaps unknown to the public, but which, in addition to the work of collecting archaeological pieces, is also dedicated to research and authorising new constructions in Valencia’.
For her part, Pepa Pascual pointed out that ‘trying to summarise all the discoveries and advances in archaeological matters that have taken place over these 75 years is a very complicated task, especially in a small space, and even more so if we take into account all the publications that have been made on both a scientific and informative level. For this reason, we thought that the most attractive thing would be to tell the most unknown aspects of SIAM and to base the exhibition on the knowledge obtained from the archaeological remains found in the excavations, which help to reconstruct the past’.
In this sense, the head of the Service highlighted the work of ‘two magnificent archaeologists that this city has had, Albert Ribera Lacomba and Vicent Lerma Alegria’ and dedicated a special mention to the entire SIAM team, whom she thanked for ‘their dedication’.
Five exhibition halls
The first room is dedicated to the two different stages in the history of SIAM. Through a timeline, different singular milestones are presented. It begins with the first excavations in 1890 in what is now Ciril Amorós street, passing through the creation of the Service in 1948, which remained active until the retirement of its director, José Llorca, in 1974.
The second stage of SIAM began in 1981 with the incorporation of the archaeologists Albert Ribera Lacomba (director until 2019) and Josep Vicent Lerma Alegria. During this period, a commitment was made to modern archaeology, adopting new work methodologies used in Anglo-Saxon countries, accompanied by regulations that ensured that archaeology was incorporated into the city’s construction process.
As a central element, 5 special pieces from the Roman-Republican, Roman-Imperial, Visigothic, Andalusian and Late Medieval periods have been selected for display in this space, which serve as an introduction to the following rooms. These pieces include: an Iberian jar from the ‘Cycle of Life’; the figure of a mime or dancer in bronze; a glass bowl from the ‘traditio legis’, which represents the figure of Jesus Christ delivering the divine Law to St. Peter in the presence of St. Paul; an 11th century treasure with more than 1,000 silver and gold coins (dinars and dirhams); and the medieval capital representing the legend of Aristotle and Philis. Also, in this first space, an audiovisual presentation of the various excavations carried out by SIAM over the last 40 years is shown.
In the rest of the rooms there are pieces from contemporary and modern times (room 2); a montage of a fragment of the Güelda dock (1685) and pieces from the medieval period (room 3); pieces from the Andalusian and Roman periods (room 4); and a montage of the mosaic and mural paintings belonging to a Roman residence found under the current Palau de les Corts Valencianes (room 5).
SIAM
The Municipal Archaeological Research Service of Valencia is one of the oldest services at a national level. It was officially created on 4th May 1948 and its director was José Llorca Rodríguez. Within the work of the SIAM, its collaborations in the creation of museums and exhibition spaces, both public and private, such as the Museu d’Història de València, the caliphal mill in Salvador Giner street, the Islamic wall, the late medieval wall or part of the old Roman circus, also stand out.
In addition, SIAM has worked on the rehabilitation of important historical buildings, such as the Almudín, the Casa dels Bous, old farmhouses and mills, as well as Civil War shelters. These efforts have not only rescued the memory of Valencia, but have also helped to create spaces where citizens can connect with their history.
Complementary exhibition at l’Almoina
In addition to this exhibition, in January, the Centre Arqueològic de l’Almoina will be showing a complementary exhibition focusing on the more human side of archaeology. The aim of the exhibition is to recognise the work and dedication of the professionals involved in archaeology in Valencia over the last 40 years, in which more than 1,000 interventions have been carried out throughout the city.
There will also be a compilation of the press in which archaeology has been the protagonist of numerous news items, sometimes favourable and sometimes more critical, and the more specialised aspect of the exhibition will be dealt with, which will include a catalogue with articles by different researchers and an appendix with the files and photographs of all the pieces on display in the exhibition.