The Columna Miliaria is a Roman milestone, dating from around 9 BCE, that once marked the section of the Vía Augusta passing through what was then the Roman city of Eliocroca. The inscription, partly worn but still legible, names the emperor Augustus and the distance to Carthago Nova (modern Cartagena).
The column was found in pieces and reassembled, and now stands on a small square near the historic centre. It's a quick stop but a tangible reminder that Lorca's strategic position on the road between the coast and the interior is not a medieval invention — it goes back two thousand years.