Roman Villa of Can Valls

The archaeological site of the Roman Villa of Can Valls is located on the maritime slope of the hill of Caçagats, a privileged and well-connected site: inland following the course of the Llobregat River, and in the east thanks to maritime trade routes. 2,000 years ago, the coast line was located a few miles inland from the current one, near Can Valls. The present-day Llobregat delta did not exist and this river emptied into an estuary, and north of Can Valls, these waters must have formed a small bay. This ancient estuary of the Llobregat River was used in ancient times as an anchorage, where nearby ships could be anchored and loaded and discharged. The remains of several shipwrecked or abandoned ships, in the so-called Sands Site, are evidenced. It is recorded that activity in this port began in the 4th century BC, still in Iberian times, and must have had the peak of activity in the second half of the 1st century BC and the first half of the 1st century AD, when the inhabitants of Barcino pushed the production and commercialization of Laietania wine, perhaps becoming by the end of the 1st century BC their most important economic activity. Commercial production of wine in northeastern Spain was especially intense in the Laietania region, comprising the present-day counties of Maresme, Barcelonès, Vallès and Baix Llobregat, and so named for having been the country of the pre-Roman Iberian Laietan people.