La Paeria

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In 1961, the Ajuntament de Lleida (Lleida City Council - Spain) began renovation work on the cellars of La Paeria (the City Hall building) by conducting excavation work in conjunction with the Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs (Institute of Lleida Studies). This was the first archaeological work undertaken in the city. In 1981, what was then known as the Estudi General de Lleida, but subsequently became the Universitat de Lleida, continued with this excavation work. The last of this work was carried out in 1997 and was undertaken by the Secció d’Arqueologia de l’Ajuntament (Archaeological Section of the City Council), which had been created in 1992.

The documented archaeological remains lie under the present Plaça Paeria (Paeria Square) and in the cellars of the former Palau dels Sanaüja (Sanaüja Palace). They are very significant as they are located to the south-west of what is presently known as the Roman city.

During the period of the Roman Republic, this area may have corresponded to a rather marginal part of the city. This could have been a consequence of the presence of the river and of the steeply sloping sides of the central hill in this area. Excavation work has produced constant discoveries amongst materials dating from the 1st century BCE that fell down the hill slope or were found in river sediments.

In the Augustan period a building with a rectangular floor plan was constructed, which extended out beneath the present Plaça Paeria. The foundations of this building have been conserved to this day. The building was constructed using large blocks of sandstone, 1.50 m long and 50 cm wide. Of this construction, there still remain five rows of blocks that were laid directly on top of the gravel that had formed the bed of the old course of the river. The typology of the adornments and the exceptional nature of the site chosen, lead experts to believe that this was no ordinary construction, but rather a large building that probably had some connection with the course of the river itself. However, the continuous overflowing of the river must have damaged the building’s structure, making it impossible to finish the original project.

Construction work seems to have then resumed, with building continuing on top of the old structures and a significant quantity of river deposits – that were probably laid down in the 4th century CE – until at least the middle of the 5th century CE.