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Torre 3. Estela funeraria romana

The wall that currently surrounds the city retains numerous elements of Roman origin. Generally, these consist of large blocks of granite or limestone that were extracted from their original location and reused in the foundation of the medieval wall. Throughout the entire length of the wall, multiple examples of this practice can be found.

The most abundant set is made up of enormous ashlar stones, mainly granite, although some are limestone as well. These stones were taken from various buildings and repositioned as the structural base of the wall. One place where these pieces can be seen is at the southern exit of the city, through the San Andrés gate, which faces the Clamores River. Some of these stones still retain the "dovetail" grooves, used to place metal clamps that joined the stones and reinforced the construction.

Roman inscriptions are also plentiful, mostly belonging to funerary stelae like the one we can see here. Although the exact location of the ancient Roman necropolises of the city is not known, it is likely they were situated on the outskirts, near the main communication routes. It is believed that one of them could have been in the Clamores valley, in the Sancti Spiritus area, as several stelae were found in nearby quarries last century. Another necropolis may have been in the Eresma valley, where several roads converged and one of the city's most important access points was located.

Over time, some of these inscriptions have disappeared, and others have been transferred to the nearby Segovia Museum. Nevertheless, a total of 67 pieces have been identified along the more than 3 kilometres that make up the wall.

Copy of Roman funerary stele by Alejandro Duque Sanz, master stone carver

Funerary stele are stone monuments prepared to be erected vertically at burial sites. They typically inscribed the praenomen (given name), nomen (clan name), and cognomen (nickname) of the deceased, as well as the age at which they died (in some examples, specifying years, months, days, and even hours). The name of the person who dedicated the inscription was also engraved, along with a funerary formula. In this case, the epigraphic body begins with the initials DMS (Diis Manibus Sacrum).