This morning in Calpe, the MARQ presented an exhibition that recovers the figure of Roger de Llúria and his second wife, Saurina d'Entença, 720 years after the death of the nobleman, whose career left a deep historical and heritage mark on the Pobla de Ifach archaeological site.
The Deputy for Culture of the Alicante Provincial Council, Juan de Dios Navarro, and the Mayor of Calpe, Ana Sala, inaugurated the exhibition at the Casa de Cultura ‘Jaume Pastor i Fluixà’. The exhibition has also been organised in collaboration with the CV MARQ Foundation and the Banco Sabadell Foundation, as well as the Town Council of Cocentaina, which will also host the travelling exhibition due to its links with the medieval figure.
Under the title “Llúria, Lords and Ladies of the Land”, two of the most important pieces discovered in the excavations at La Pobla de Ifach are on display for the first time: part of the vault of the church of Santa María de Ifach and a window from the stately residence that preserves a spectacular capital. In addition, the exhibition includes a graphic narrative, in the form of a comic strip, which traces the main milestones in the lives of these two nobles with historical scenes inspired by medieval illustrations from the Morgan Bible.
The exhibition is curated by José Luis Menéndez, MARQ technician and director of the excavations at La Pobla de Ifach, who is a specialist in medieval archaeology. Each of the travelling exhibitions is coordinated by Amparo González Martínez, Culture Coordinator at Calpe Town Council, and Elisa Domenech Faus, technician at the Palau Comtal Municipal Museum in Cocentaina. Menéndez highlighted the research and work carried out at the Calpe archaeological site which, among many other conclusions, has promoted the figure of Roger de Llúria and Saurina d'Entença, ‘as both had a significant impact on the development of Calpe and Cocentaina and exerted a profound influence on the evolution of this region’. In fact, the travelling exhibition, designed by Ángel Rocamora Arquitectos, will be hosted by both towns.
The event was also attended by the mayor of Cocentaina, Jordi Pla, the councillor for Culture of the Calpe Town Council, Guillermo Sendra, the director of the MARQ, Manuel Olcina, the manager of the CV MARQ Foundation, Josep Albert Cortés, and the representative of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, Gordon Steinecke.
The exhibition at the Casa de Cultura ‘Jaume Pastor i Fluixà’ will remain open during July and August. Opening hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm and Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm, with free admission. In Cocentaina, the exhibition will be open for a whole year from October 2025 in the Exhibition Hall of the Palau Comtal.