The Roman villa of Los Cantos in Bullas

Wine production was already a feature of the Bullas economy in Roman times

The Roman villa of Los Cantos, just outside the town of Bullas in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is located close to the MU-503 road which leaves the town and heads for Zarzadilla de Totana, and is in many ways typical of the numerous villas which marked the colonization of rural areas in the south-east of Spain during the centuries around the birth of Christ. 

That the Romans found agriculture a productive activity in the countryside around Bullas is evident from the fact that artifacts have been found here dating from as early as the second century BC and as late as the 5th century AD. It can thus be deduced that they stayed for around 700 years, and the complex includes not only a residential area, where the landowner would have spent part of the year, but also a thermal bath area and the actual farm installations where production was carried out.

It can also be assumed that grape-growing and wine production were already an important part of the economic activities in Bullas during the period of Roman occupation. This was made clear in the 1860s, when the site was first excavated, by the discovery of four statues which were located at the four corners of a central patio. These figures, which formed part of an ornamental system to gather rainwater and irrigate a garden area during the drier months, represented the four seasons of the year. 

One of the statues featured a young boy who is assumed to represent the god Bacchus (or Dionysius) holding a bunch of grapes, but unfortunately all four were removed from the site and it was not until 2016 that three of them were recovered by the police after a long investigation into their disappearance. But the "Niño de las Uvas" is still missing, despite some locals having strong opinions as to where he might be found, and it is only possible to see a replica of the statue in the Wine Museum of Bullas.

However, the three remaining statues are now on display in the Museo del Vino in Bullas.

Another statue of Aphrodite which was found at the villa is now safely housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, and other items found at the complex include numerous fragments of mosaic floors, murals and marble sculptures. All of these indicate that Los Cantos was a source of some wealth, especially in the second century AD, almost certainly due to the wine and olive oil production in the area.

Most of the complex was reformed around the end of the second century AD, when there was a Civil War in the Roman Empire between Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus and much of the population re-settled in the countryside in order to escape the conflict in major cities. 

How to get to the Los Cantos site:

The site of the Villa de Los Cantos can be reached from the centre of Bullas by leaving the town towards the south-east on Avenida Luis de los Reyes and then turning left on Avenida Médico Don Manuel Medina just outside the built-up area. Despite its grand name, this part of the road is little more than an unsurfaced track, which peters out in the farmland. Shortly before it does so, take a right fork up to a small rise on which the remains of Los Cantos can be found.

The site is not open for public visits as it is located on privately owned land, but is opened occasionally as part of the cultural programme of the municipality.

Click for more information about the Bullas municipality: Bullas, north-west Murcia