The thermal baths at Can Mercadé

The ancient Roman city of Iesso is located under the modern urban area of Guissona in the Segarra. Plini el Vell and Ptolemy situated Iesso in the territory of the Lacetans, where the city was founded around 100 BC. The thermal baths at Can Mercadé were part of the city's public facilities, including an atrium with impluvium, a cold bath of 5 m by 3 m, and a semicircular pool. The city was protected by a wall, of which a section and a defense tower are now preserved.

The southern part of Iesso is still unknown. The wall protected an urban area with necropolis, public spaces and buildings. Currently, visitors can see buildings from the 1st century BC, a residential villa from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, and the thermal baths at Can Mercadé. The city also featured an industrial area for the production of wine.

Iesso developed significant construction and commercial activity for more than seven centuries and remained active until the Visigothic period in the 6th century. It is supposed that in the 8th century it was conquered by the Saracens. Today, these remains can be visited in an archaeological park covering 20,000 square meters at the northern end of the city.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons