Portugal: Conimbriga

The house of the fountains

Conimbriga is a Roman archaeological site to the south of the University city of Coimbra, tomorrow's destination. It is celebrated as the best such site in Portugal and we could see that excavations are still underway. The visit follows a clockwise route from the entrance. The first striking sight is a stretch of Roman road which heads towards a gateway.

The road in fact ran from Olisipo (Lisbon) to Braccara Augusta (Braga) and was 4m wide which was the standard for Roman roads. This section would have had shops under porticos beside the road.

To the left is a series of buildings (well the bases of such buildings: low walls and mosaic floors). The mosaics are all geometrical patterns, with not a person nor a flower in sight. Some of them are very attractive.

At the back of this area is a massive wall, erected at the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century in the style of the wall surrounding Rome built by the Emperor Aurelianus in 270-275. For some reason it did not surround the whole city. 

The house nearest the wall is interesting for its round brick pillars made from bricks shaped like a thick slice of camembert.

We headed around the end of the wall and soon reached the Great Southern Baths in the style of the Imperial baths in Rome ...

... and the Palestra for sports activities. It is unusual to see ancient buildings recreated in this way, but it certainly makes it easier to get a sense of what they were really like.

Not far away was the Forum, the centre of any Roman town or city. This has also been recreated to some extent with three columns giving a flavour of the portico which would have surrounded it.

We headed back towards the wall where we admire this beautiful arch at right angles to it.

Then through a gap in the wall to reach the House of the Fountains, which is seen as the greatest treasure of the site. It dates back to the 1st century and would have been the home of an aristocratic family. It was demolished at the time the wall was built, but the surrounding mosaics and the water works were restored in 1953. The protective roof dates from 1971. You can see the water works in action by putting a Euro in the slot to one side of the building.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: about two miles in all.

Rating: four stars.