Roman Necropolis

Part of a necropolis dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD is preserved in the Vila de Madrid Plaza. Some 70 tombs are displayed among flowerbeds at a lower level on both sides of one of the secondary entrance roads to the Roman city of Barcino (today's Barcelona). Most of the tombs are 'cupae', a funerary monument of simple construction. The necropolis was built outside the Roman city walls, as Roman law prohibited burials in the city.