In the Murcian neighbourhood of La Alberca, in the Region of Murcia, there is a Roman tomb called the Martyrium of La Alberca (Spain). Being one of the most significant late Roman sites in the Iberian Peninsula and having remains that date to about the first half of the 4th century, it was designated a National Monument in 1931.

It is situated in the former Llano de la Mora, now Calle de la Paz in La Alberca, amid the foothills of the mountain range formed by the Carrascoy and El Valle mountain ranges, about 5 kilometres south of the city of Murcia.

As it is close to the Basilica of Llano del Olivar and the late Roman fortress of Los Garres, two examples of the high Romanization of the so-called Cordillera Sur, as well as the presence of earlier settlements (Santuario Ibérico de la Luz, Cabecico del Tesoro, el Puntarrón Chico, etc.), it is in a region of significant archaeological interest.

The earliest discoveries were made there in 1832, at a time when the area had been terraced and ponds had been constructed to use the water. The first architectural ruins were discovered during that time.

An association was formed in 1890 to exploit the location, which almost resulted in the ruin of the location because its primary duties were looting and searching for supposed treasures that were concealed there.

The reports by Fuentes y Ponte and A. Engel at the end of the 19th century were the first research on the Martyrium. At the start of the 20th century, Manuel González Simancas joined them. A mosaic that was looted initially just had Fuentes y Ponte's description left over. The architect Torres Balbás made measures to defend the enclosure after the looting had already occurred.

When Cayetano de Mergelina y Luna conducted his explorations of the complex in 1947, it was the first properly archaeological approach to the structure and the necropolis.

As a result of these excavations, the Archaeological Museum of Murcia now houses a number of Martyrium artefacts.

The Palaeo-Christian burial monument known as the martyrium, whose name is derived from the word "martyr," has a rectangular floor plan that is oriented east-west and measures 12 metres long by 7.60 metres broad.

Each of the exterior walls has five buttresses, and the western side, which is smaller, has an additional five buttresses. A rectangular crypt that was accessible through a stairway is located beneath the structure. A wall that may have had a fenestrella confesionis window for viewing the martyr's sarcophagus inside it and four limestone tombs separated from the crypt by the wall were discovered in the crypt close to an apse.

The polychrome mosaic with a geometric theme that would have covered the crypt's floor has not survived. Opus spicatum, often known as herringbone masonry, is a Roman building method that was used to construct the wall of this underground area. It's possible that the lower chamber's roof was a lowered vault.

A necropolis was discovered next to the mausoleum; some of the graves are situated near to the walls, in the spaces between the buttresses, while others are parallel or transverse to the building's south wall. These interments occurred at the same time as the martyrium.

The burial monument at La Alberca and its necropolis would have been a component of a Roman villa from the same period, the exact boundaries of which remain unknown, based on the information gleaned from the archaeological work done in and around this significant complex.

Therefore, the Martyrium of La Alberca would have been constructed by members of the provincial and rural aristocracy who resided in expansive villas and located religious structures within their lands for a private cult for the worship of relics.

The complex was originally believed to date to the Byzantine period, which was supported, among other things, by the proximity of the 6th-century basilica of Algezares. However, the construction method, the materials used, and the typology of the martyrium have made it possible to date the complex to the first half of the 4th century AD.

The typology makes reference to many early Christian parallels that are well-known, like the martyrdom in Pecs (Hungary) and Marusinac (Croatia).

The two instances found outside of Iberia would have a rectangular layout, two storeys, and a single entrance on the top floor from which a stairway would go to the crypt. There would be an apse on its lower side that was connected to the crypt by the fenestrella confesionis. The exterior of the building would have buttresses surrounding it, and the Holy Chamber would have two vaulted floors, all in homage to the Lower Roman Empire's rectangular burial structures.