National Police agents in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the weapon of Carabinieri have recovered in Italy a Roman leader of the third century DC that was stolen in Mérida in 1996, After being detected that the piece was auctioned by a Valencian antiquarian and was at a collector’s house.
The return occurred during a ceremony In which the Spanish ambassador Miguel Fernández-Palacios Martínez participated, the Italian agents reported in a note.
It is a piece made in White marble and with registration dedicated to Gaius spureuswhich was in excellent condition after being stolen from the consortium of the Monumental City of Mérida in 1996, as reported by the National Police.
This was located when it was offered through a portal for sale of objects by a Valencian antiquarian And it was recovered in Italy. The investigation began when the Ministry of Culture alerted the Historical Heritage Brigade about the presence of the piece on a website of objects online.
Thus, the “Sale of a Roman funeral altar on a well -known electronic commerce platform “so the military, coordinated by the Prosecutor’s Office of Velletri (in the province of Rome), seized the well -guarded good in the house of a Roman collector.
Archaeological experts of the Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the Metropolitan Area of Rome and the province of Rieti carried out a thorough epigraphic analysis and found that “the funeral wake was unquestionably authentic and Roman erain addition to presenting a relevant historical and archaeological interest. “
In addition, the investigations allowed to determine that the good had been illegally subtracted from Mérida, where it had been found in 1994 during an excavation campaign, and that existed A complaint with the Spanish National Police police station held on December 5, 2013.
The officials of the Spanish Ministry of Culture They requested restitution of the aforementioned archaeological, being part of the cultural heritage of the State. It was on April 10, 2024 when the Velletri court issued the corresponding decree of liberation of the embargo and restitution to the Spanish authorities, the police explained.
For its part, The Board of Extremadura has celebrated its recovery and restitution to Spain. Thus, the Minister of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports, Victoria Bazaga, has expressed her “satisfaction” for this finding and restitution, which in her opinion reflects the “institutional commitment” with the protection of the historical and cultural heritage of Extremadura, And he has advanced that they work so that the piece returns “as soon as possible” to its historical context.
After his arrival in Spain in the next few days, The ARA will be guarded by the National Police until completing the administrative procedures for its return to Extremadura. “We work so that the piece returns as soon as possible to its historical context, thus contributing to the value of the exceptional Roman legacy of Mérida,” said the counselor.
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