The Treasure of Villena has been stolen during the early morning of this Thursday, August 27 from the Museum of Villena (MUVI), where its original pieces were on display. The collection, discovered in 1963 and composed of 66 objects made of gold, silver, iron, and amber, constitutes one of the most important archaeological finds of the Bronze Age in Europe. However, it seems that 59 is the number of historical pieces stolen.
According to Cadena SER, the perpetrators accessed the building through one of its sides after forcing a window and quickly took the pieces. The investigation also considers whether a false alarm recorded minutes earlier at the municipal sports center could have been used as a distraction to divert police patrols.
The Local Police and the Civil Guard have cordoned off the area and are working to reconstruct what happened. For the moment, the identity of those responsible has not been officially communicated nor have any arrests been announced, while the investigation continues to locate the pieces and clarify how the assault occurred.
The museum exhibited the original pieces since 2024
The theft affects the authentic pieces of the Treasure of Villena. The new MUVI opened its doors in May 2024, and the City Council announced then that the definitive exhibition would include the originals of the collection, after replicas were shown during the pre-inauguration stage.
The presence of the originals turned the room dedicated to the Treasure into one of the main attractions of the museum. MUVI itself equates the archaeological importance of the collection with that of the royal treasures of Mycenae, while the official tourist information of Villena defines it as the most important prehistoric treasure in Europe.
Precisely two days before the theft, Villena had commemorated the 30 years since the death of José María Soler, the archaeologist and researcher who discovered the Treasure and whose career was closely linked to the conservation of the archaeological heritage of the locality.
What is the Treasure of Villena and why is it so valuable
The Treasure of Villena was discovered by José María Soler on December 1, 1963. It is a collection of 66 pieces that remained hidden for about 3,000 years and constitutes a fundamental reference for the knowledge of prehistoric goldsmithing of the Iberian Peninsula.
Among its objects are bowls, bracelets, and ornamental pieces of gold, in addition to three silver bottles, an iron bracelet, an iron finial decorated with gold, and a button of amber and gold. Altogether, it contains nearly ten kilograms of gold.
Its relevance does not depend solely on the amount of precious metal. The archaeological and historical value of the Treasure of Villena is exceptional due to its antiquity, composition, and state of preservation, so its loss cannot be measured simply by an economic valuation.
The investigation now seeks to recover the 66 pieces
The security forces are keeping the investigation open to identify the perpetrators and recover the stolen heritage. One of the issues that must be clarified is how the assault was organized and whether the incident previously recorded at the sports center was really related to the robbery.
It must also be determined the intended destination for some extraordinarily recognizable and documented pieces. For now, the published information suggests that different hypotheses are being investigated regarding the planning and authorship of the robbery, but there is no official confirmation that allows attributing it to a specialized gang nor asserting that it responds to a commission from a private collector.
The immediate priority is to locate the set and prevent the pieces from disappearing from the known circuit. The robbery represents the theft of one of the main cultural symbols of Villena and an archaeological heritage whose importance widely transcends the local scope.