The Roman villa of Arellano
Larario
In the eastern wall of the cellar, a lararium was found, a small stone altar topped by a small roof where religious ceremonies were held within the domestic sphere in which the head of the family acted as priest. The lares, hence the name larario, were the protective gods of the house and the family, although there were also others such as the penates, protectors of the larder, and the manes, who represented the ancestors.
The location of the lararium in the villa's wine cellar is unusual in the practices of the Roman world, so the villa of Arellano has the singularity of having a wine cellar in which the ordinary activities of storing wine in large dolia were combined with others derived from its use as a place for meeting and the celebration of religious events.
How to get there: The easiest way to get there is from the Pamplona - Logroño motorway, a few kilometres past Estella in the direction of Logroño, take exit 51 to Arróniz, on the NA-6340. After a few kilometres, the museum complex appears on the right.
Important: All information.
scheduleSee web page.
Bibliography: María Ángeles Mezquíriz Irujo, La villa romana de Arellano, Gobierno de Navarra, Pamplona, 2003.
