La Casa de Fortuna, Cartagena, a special Roman Home.

Where to Go Cartagena Spain- Casa de Fortuna

Casa de Fortuna

This was once the home of a wealthy family , a domus, dating back to the First Century AD and is popular with ex-pat visitors as the structure of the house can clearly be seen and the volume of ruins make it easy to get a feel of what it would have been like as a home.

At this phase in the history of Cartagena, the city was buzzing, exporting volumes of lead, silver, fish paste, salt, esparto grass and grain to Rome and many important and substantial buildings filled the streets.

This building is called the Casa Fortuna as the words "Fortuna Propitia" are to be seen in the floor of the atrium, meaning good luck, a greeting to good fortune and prosperity, probably indicating that the house belonged to a wealthy  merchant who would have been engaed in one of those trading activities. There is no hint in the decor as to what he actually sold, but as only prosperous families could afford a house of this size, 204 square metres, he must have been a substantial merchant.

The less wealthy would have lived in buildings more akin to tenement blocks with communal washing facilities at street level, and little privacy, many with few or no cooking facilities, hence the popularity of public bath houses and street kitchens.

Visitors are usually directed to walk through the museum and start at the back, entering the house from the street outside, as visitors to the house would have done 2000 years ago, which is a surreal experience, really following in the footsteps of people who lived here all that time ago.

The street itself disappears off into foundations of the building next door, but is remarkably conserved, the remains of the sophisticated drainage system  clearly visible, paved with slabs of grey limestone with contrasting sandstone edging the pavements, and its easy to imagine carts and pedestrians using it in their every day lives. The house is entered via what would have been the front door, known as a Ianua, referring to the god Janus who was believed to protect from the spirits of the dead and is usually depicted with two faces, so he could protect in and out at the same time.

The front of the house was faced off with volcanic rock, which was brought from the nearby hillsides, and the house would have had glass windows, remains of which were actually found during the excavations and been rendered and painted with bright colours.

Its hard to imagine in the dark as you see it now, how this house would have glowed with colour, but the romans adored bright, showy colours, and it was very important to show social status by the display of paintings, mosaics and beautifully crafted furniture.

The house has a series of reception rooms; an  intimate salon where the owner would have received those petitioning favours, a sumptuous dining room where couches would have been pulled up around a central table, bedrooms, and functional space for food preparation, fragments of paint and floors hinting at just how extravagantly finished this house was in its day. The wall paintings are still bright and vibrant, and there are still traces of the original mosaic floors, which would have been very expensive to lay .

Intimate personal possessions of former inhabitants are on display - cosmetic accoutrements for mixing and preparing powders and ungents, bone pins for pinning coils of hair into elaborate designs, weights for weaving, lanterns for light and cooking utensils.

Looking closely scenes from daily life can be seen , particularly on the little oil lamps which were made in moulds, giving them remarkable detail and clarity, and tiny details such as the little fish marked on a very unimpressive flat dish in one of the display cabinets indicate its function as a fish plate.

The house was only discovered in the year 2000 and has been carefully conserved beneath street level, so be warned if you suffer from claustrophobia as it is a little dark, and below the ground, but well worth a visit if this doesnt worry you.

Practical visitor information - Casa de Fortuna, Cartagena Spain

Location : In the corner of Plaza Risueno, off Calle Caridad

Opening Times :

From 31st March to 30th June, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 2.30pm

Semana Santa, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 2.30pm

From 1^st July to 15^th September, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm

From 16th to 4th November, Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 4pm

From 5th November to 9th December, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 2.30pm

From 10th December to 30th March, Only Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 2pm

Normal Entry 2.50 euros

Discounted (Pensioners, Groups, Under 12s) 2 euros

Cartagena attractions with disabled access?

Access- Not the best for those with mobility issues as the entrance is down steps and the chair lift is not currently working. Inside there is the necessity to watch your step as the house is on slightly different levels.

Toilet facilities available.