The remains of the medieval wine cellar came to light in the summer of 2016, during the rehabilitation of the old factory. The wine cellar was part of the facilities of a stately farmhouse, located next to the historic path that ran behind the rear facade of Bombas Gens.
The Alqueria Comeig (farmhouse)
The farmhouse was located on the left bank of the old Marxalenes road and was just one of the farmhouses scattered in the peri-urban area of the city. It was a large house whose oldest walls date back to the 14th century. Its main facade faced the old road but it was demolished and buried to build the current Doctor Machí street, so it is no longer visible.
Most of the conserved remains of the farmhouse are related to the alterations carried out between the end of the 15th and early 16th century, a moment of constructive splendor that endowed it with a stately floor. The space was distributed between an underground cellar for the production of wine, a ground floor — intended for a work and storage area — and a first floor that housed the stately rooms. It was completed with a large vegetable garden and attached sections for the animals.
After these alterations, more followed over time with the aim of adapting it to the needs of its inhabitants. The house was known as “Alquería de Comeig” from the 18th century, a name given by the family that lived in it until the seventies of the 20th century.
Plan of the archaeological elements documented on the ground floor of the farmhouse. (Phase of the XV-XVI centuries). Source: Paloma Berrocal Ruiz.
The medieval wine cellar
The underground cellar, the result of these alterations around the year 1500, was conceived as a space for the production and proper storage of wine. The wine press was located on the ground floor of the farmhouse, from which a circular vat used for grape-treading has been recovered. The wine cellar was built underneath the wine press, and it can be visited via the narrow two-part staircase that has been preserved. Inside the vaulted space, different original elements can be seen, such as the small hole in the wall adjoining the wine press, which allowed the grape juice to descend to the rectangular vat below. The benches where the jars were placed have also been preserved. The grape juice was transferred into these ceramic containers for fermentation and storage. One of those jars has been reconstructed from the fragments found during the archaeological excavation, and it is located in the corner opposite the vat.
The ceramic
A selection of the recovered ceramic pieces can be seen In the exhibition space of the wine cellar.
Piece from the 14th-15th century
Manises ware ceramic bowl decorated in blue with fish border band decoration and radial palmettes.
Pieces from the 16th-17th centuries
Set of tiles showing the type of paving that the floors of the stately rooms on the first floor of the farmhouse must have been made of. They are three different types of tiles that, interspersed, formed geometric combinations: tile with floral motifs in reserve — also called de la Estrella —, blue Mitalad tile and Rodona tile.
Pieces from the 17th century
Series of pieces that were part of the farmhouse table and kitchen tableware: a full pot with its lid, a plate with green-purpleblue decoration of the Aragonese or Talaveran style. Manises ware, a piece in lustreware and another decorated in blue and lustre.
