Torredonjimeno commemorates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Visigothic Treasure
The Torredonjimeno City Council celebrates in 2026 the centenary of the discovery of the Visigothic Treasure, found in 1926 in an olive grove near the Ermita de la Virgen de Consolación. The anniversary highlights a collection of goldwork now distributed among several museums.
The Ayuntamiento de Torredonjimeno commemorates this year the centenary of the discovery of the Visigothic Treasure, found in 1926 in the municipal district. The corporation presents the anniversary as an occasion to make known "the legacy, the history and the mystery" surrounding these pieces, as the Ayuntamiento itself indicates.
A chance find in an olive grove
The Tesoro de Torredonjimeno is a collection of Visigothic goldwork made up of several votive crowns that the Visigothic kings offered to the Church. According to the information available about the find, it is very similar to the Tesoro de Guarrazar, although somewhat rougher, and the crowns may possibly have been dedicated to Saints Justa and Rufina.
The pieces appeared in 1926 near the current Ermita de la Virgen de Consolación, on an olive grove estate located two kilometres from the urban centre of Torredonjimeno and four from Martos. They were found by a farm worker who was working in the field. Thinking they had no value, he gave them to his children, who amused themselves by taking the jewels apart and mixing them with mud. Some time later a rag-and-bone man appeared who bought the pieces, and their trail is lost until they reappear in the forties, already fragmented.
Divided among several museums
At present, the Treasure is divided among the Museos Arqueológicos de Madrid, Barcelona and Córdoba, according to the information available about the collection. The Ayuntamiento frames the anniversary in the value of some pieces that, in its view, connect with the end of the Roman world and the beginning of the Middle Ages on the peninsula.
A municipality of the Campiña
Torredonjimeno is a municipality in the southwest of the province of Jaén, 17 kilometres from the capital, traditionally placed in the comarca de la Campiña de Jaén and currently in the Comarca Metropolitana. It has 13,213 inhabitants, according to the 2025 register. Its municipal district borders to the south with Martos, Jamilena and Santiago de Calatrava, among other municipalities.
The Ayuntamiento invites people to discover the heritage represented by the Treasure on the occasion of the centenary.