Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Romans
The Romans left Portugal their typical architectural and engineering feats - roads, bridges,
towns complete with forums (marketplaces), villas, public baths and aqueducts. These have
now largely disappeared from the surface, though the majority of Portugal's cities are built
on Roman foundations. Today you can descend into dank foundations under new buildings
in Lisbon and Évora, and see Roman fragments around Braga. At Conímbriga, the coun-
try's largest Roman site, an entire Roman town is under excavation. Revealed so far are
some spectacular mosaics, along with structural or decorative columns, carved entablatures
and classical ornamentation, giving a sense of the Roman high life.
Portugal's most famous and complete Roman ruin is the Templo Romano, the so-called
Temple of Diana in Évora, with its flouncy-topped Corinthian columns, nowadays echoed
by the complementary towers of Évora cathedral. This is the finest temple of its kind on the
Iberian Peninsula, its preservation the result of having been walled up in the Middle Ages
and later used as a slaughterhouse.
