* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
In Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia we can see the remains of the curious Roman exedra of Boades, which forms part of the heritage of Castellgalí, in the Bages region. This structure was known by the peasants of the area as the Torre dels Moros.
The exedra is a semicircular space, covered by a semidome, which usually protrudes from the wall of a building, in the manner of an apse, although it can also be an opening in an internal wall.
The remains of this exedra are located in front of Cal Cadevall and Can Vilaseca. The Roman villa was part of the nucleus. In front of this construction, on the other side of the road, under the direction of Mosén Santamaria, between 1932 and 1936, part of the structures of the town were unearthed, with its rooms, some with polychrome stuccos on the walls and mosaics on the floor.
We can see in the images the semicircular head of the exedra, which was linked to an important noble room of a house with which it was articulated: in the triclinium (dining room), oecus (reception) or the auditorium (ceremonial hall).
In Castellgalí, the apse wall with a maximum height of 4 meters and an entire window with an arch that was built with bricks has been preserved.
This type of construction became widespread around the end of the 2nd century. In the case of the Roman exedra of Boades it would probably correspond to the 3rd or 4th century.
