Conimbriga - a journey back in time

I have a fondness for ancient places, myths, and legends. I'm pretty sure I've had a past life as a Roman senator as well. So when I discovered that the most extensively excavated site of Roman ruins in Portugal was only a few miles from where I've been staying in Coimbra, I simply had to go.

Above: the very pretty country in which this former city was situated.

The site of Conimbriga dates from the 2-4th centuries CE, however, some remains date back to as early as 25 CE and before that, there was an indigenous Celtic settlement located there. The Romans built over the Celtic settlement's foundations, but some still survive today - 2 streets with stone foundations for houses which gives evidence for urbanization prior to the Roman's "civilizing" conquests. 

The bus from Coimbra to Conimbriga takes 40 minutes and costs €2.45 one way. The museum and ruins happened to be free the day I went (I.e. the first Sunday of the month), which I was delighted to learn. When I asked the lady at the ticket booth, "should I go into the museum first, or walk the ruins?"  She replied, "the ruins first," with a knowing smile.

I should preface that this isn't the first time I've seen Roman ruins (I saw some "leftovers" in Nice years ago) but these ruins were outstanding in their size, scope, and level of detail preserved. Let's take a walk down memory lane. First up, a Roman road, built about 13 feet across and in better shape than some of the sidewalks in Coimbra (no, I'm not joking):

It was thrilling to walk on a road that was built almost 2000 years ago. The site has two distinct parts to it: the original Roman settlement from the 2-3 centuries, and a much smaller settlement from the 4th century CE, when stone from the previous settlement was plundered from buildings to hastily put up a huge defensive wall (6 meters high and 13 feet thick!) to defend against barbarian invasion.

Above: a surviving arch from the defensive wall built in the 4th century. The main defensive wall is on the left of the frame and curves under the arch in the background.

The city was obviously once a bustling prosperous place as it had baths, a mostly subterranean aqueduct, and tools of trade/shops present. But the most stunning finds were the mosaic tiles and two lavish houses - a house attributed to Cantaber (owner) and the House of the Fountains. Let's take a look at each.

Above: I know this photo may not seem like much, but this house belonging to Cantaber (a wealthy imperial aristocrat) was the largest in the town at the time as it took up an entire city block. The house was originally built in the mid 1st century, but came into probable possession to Cantaber sometime before 468, after which the Suebii invaded the town and murdered everyone inside.

Above: an impressive mosaic depicting the legend of the Minotaur in the labyrinth. It is surmised that this mosaic (currently housed in the site's adjoining museum) came from the House of Cantaber. This mosaic is about 5 feet squared, and considering each tile is about a 1 cm cubed, it really is impressive how these were made with such skill and artistry. I can't imagine the time it would take to put something like this together.

The House of Fountains "does what it says on the box," and it's the most beautiful of all the remaining structures. A protective roof keeps it's safe from the elements. This house was apart of the original city layout, and was one of the buildings plundered for stone. The fact that as much of it survived is nothing short of miraculous. 

Above and below: two views of the House of fountains. For €0.50 you can watch the fountains in action for one minute. I did so (simple pleasures are the best) to the delight of a nearby toddler.

The mosaics in this house blew me away. I stood there agog, snapping pictures from every angle until I felt what it must has been like in its heyday. Clearly, this was a wealthy town at some point.

No Roman settlement would be complete without its forum, as it was the centre of the imperial cult, of commerce, and of justice. The original forum had been converted into a Christian basilica at some later date. All that is left of it is the large floor, steps, and three Roman columns (two with myself for scale below):

But the original forum would've actually been much more impressive, and looked like this (based on other regional Roman fora at the time):

Obviously, the Suevii conquerors wanted to demolish what was the quintessential Roman building, given how little of it remains. The photo of me above would place me in the top-right corner of the forum complex. Rather different, huh?

The museum is a quick tour of the local Roman history, and there are many articles that are catalogued from the excavation of the site: pottery (local and foreign-made), glass beads, iron tools, coins, and to my joy, ancient tools of the wool trade - shears, needles, spindles for spinning wool and flax, weaving shuttles and loom weights.

Definitely a great way to spend a few hours on a sunny afternoon. 

My next blog post will be about Coimbra itself. Stay tuned.