The doge Teodomiro not had the time to, or not wanted, going to the battle of Guadalete (711), where he found the death of his king, don Rodrigo, and where the visigothic army was annihilated by the troops of the Umayyad Caliphate under the command of general Tariq ibn Ziyad. Teodomiro, who dominated up to that time a large province goda that stretched across the southeast of the Peninsula (the Carthaginian, with Valencia as a city-port more important), decided after the military disaster to create his own kingdom. First built a palace, on an ancient castro built by king Leovigildo (568-586) near the river Turia, and then signed in 713 an agreement of peace with the newcomers. He had a son, called Atanagildo in honor of the king who had initiated the unification of the visigothic kingdom, but at around 743, the pact with the arabs was finished and the kingdom of this monarch, Theudemirus doge, The last godo, as he is called in their recent study, archaeologists Rafael Barroso Cabrera, Jorge Morín de Pablos and Isabel M. Sánchez Ramos, he gave his order. Now, the research on the more than a thousand sculptures found in the remains of the old palatial complex of Teodomiro, in Ribarroja of the Turia, about 20 kilometers from Valencia, has finished after four years of work.
Monogram with the legend of ‘Theodoric rex’. Project Pla de Nadal
The call site of Pla de Nadal was discovered in 1971, by the Service of Research Prehistoric the Provincial council of Valencia and excavated by the archaeologist Empar John between 1981 and 1989. Had been found in a barrow on the outskirts of the Ribarroja numerous architectural pieces of great interest” while making a clearing for the planting of orange trees, according to remember the study of Pla de Nadal. The palace of Teudinir, the coordinator of the excavations, Albert Rivera.
The investigation determined finally that it was two buildings (a palace and a church separated by 300 metres) that were looted before the fire and total destruction by the arabs. In fact, not have been found in the excavations or furniture, or metal objects belonging to this palace-style resort, but have been found ceramics. Their analyses have determined that were modelled at the end of the VIII.
3D Reconstruction of the palace of Theodoric. Project Pla de Nadal
The building —which remains under consideration and no digging in its totality— up to two floors, which have been maintained in foot lengths of up to 2,35 meters height. It was built in masonry and its developers reused “large stones roman” of the former city of Liria, although the greater part of the walls are made of source godo.
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The finding of a monogram cross with the inscription “Tebdemir” has allowed to know the name of the developer and user of the building, as well as to relate it directly with the historical figure who attempted to create a kingdom. “There are several interpretations, but the termination erre of the registration, it leads us directly to the Latin word rex [king], which would confirm that he came to be king,” says Jorge Morín, director of the consulting firm archaeological Audema.
Josep M. Macias Solé and Josep M. Puche Fontanilles, of Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, have been responsible for analysing, from “a three dimensional perspective”, the set. Using System technology from Reverse Engineering (placement of cameras, laser inside and outside of the building), created a digital model that has allowed us to recreate the complex 360-degree, with the spatial location of the 1,200 million points. So it was determined that the palace had a large central hall (17 meters in length by 5.30 am wide), and to its ends, in perpendicular to, two huge wings. It was surrounded by three porticoes.
Reconstruction of the plant inside the centre of Ribarroja. Project Pla de Nadal
Now, the studio sculptural Decoration of Pla de Nadal, performed by members of Audema and the Institute of Archaeology of the University of London, figure in about 1,000 parts dug out, many of “them virtually complete”. Crosses, friezes, rosettes, capitals, moldings are part of a huge artistic ensemble that has had to be stored in the premises of the City of Ribarroja. In total, there are 800 pieces of carved and worked full or fragmented, of which half are ornamental and decorative. These, say reports by Isabel Sánchez Ramos, “mainly come from the halls of representation and residence of the top floor, although some of them could form part of the façade”. A good part of these elements were decorated with plant motifs.
“it Is, therefore,” says Morin, “one of the sets of civilian the most important of the Hispania visigoda and one of the most significant of all the West. It has only been excavated the space of representation, the area that would be logically the most and best decorated of all the complex with friezes avenerados [with shell] and trifolias, which was also documented in other buildings of Toledo and the territorium visigoth”.
In 2015, in the castle of Ribarroja, the city Council opened the Museo Visigodo Pla de Nadal (Mvpla), where you can admire some 100 items found since the discovery in 1971. “But now we have a lot more, though it can not be referred to of time. But, at least, already have classified”, ends Jorge Morín.
The deception of women disguised
despite the disparity of narrations, the story of the conquest of the kingdom of Teodomiro (Tudmir) matches a fact. The king went out to meet the invading army and there was a battle in which the arabs emerged victorious. Teodomiro and his army took refuge in Orihuela. Once safe, in the absence of men, the king makes disguise women warriors. He himself disguises himself as an emissary and was sent to the enemy camp. Requests the peace and once achieved, invites the arabs to visit the city, where they realize the deception suffered. However, keep the word given and they are removed.
Some authors, among them Menéndez Pidal, felt that this story could have some semblance of veracity, but remember that it seems to many others, reported by the chroniclers, arabs, syrians, and until the Holy Empire Germanic.
The experts who conducted the current studies argue that the Project Pla de Nadal has counted with the collaboration of the city Council and of its technical Cristina Silvestre. “They are being an example to retrieve this history of the Valencia visigoth”, indican.
