The Romans arrived in what is today Portugal more than two thousand years ago, leaving an imprint that still shapes the country. As part of the province of Lusitania, Portugal became home to Roman roads, aqueducts, bridges, and cities such as Conímbriga and Évora, where mosaics and ruins can still be seen. Beyond stone and marble, the Romans left behind their language, laws, and agricultural practices, many of which influenced Portuguese culture and daily life for centuries to come. Their legacy is a living thread woven into Portugal’s identity, from architecture and urban planning to the Latin roots of the Portuguese language itself.There are several mysterious Roman and ancient ruins in Portugal that are worth exploring. Here are some of them:
Roman Temple of Évora: This is a well-preserved Roman temple located in the city of Évora. The temple is dedicated to Augustus and is one of the most important Roman landmarks in Portugal.
Balsa: This is an ancient Roman fishing village located on the coast near Tavira in Algarve. The site includes several well-preserved fish salting tanks and other structures related to the fishing industry.
Milreu: This is a Roman villa located near Estói. The site includes several well-preserved mosaics and frescoes, as well as a bath complex and a temple dedicated to the goddess Venus.
Vilamoura: This Roman Villa -- the Cerro da Vila--was found when a tractor scooped up a giant mosaic. Today it is well preserved and serves as a museum.
Estoi: A palace from the 19th century, the Estoi Palace, is now a luxury pousada where travelers can stay. It is also near the ruins of Milreu, considered one of the most important sites of Roman ruins in the country.
Conimbriga: This is one of the largest excavated Roman settlements in Portugal, located near Coimbra. The site included a forum, thermal baths, a large amphitheater, and several well-preserved mosaics. The city was founded in the 9th century B.C. The Romans arrived in the 2nd century A.D. and the city flourished until it fell to barbarians in 468 A.D. Today Conimbriga is the best-excavated Roman site in Portugal. The site includes the foundations of numerous houses and public buildings, along with elaborate courtyards, fountains, hot and cold baths and mosaics. The public baths include a complex network of stone heating ducts beneath the floors.
The most fascinating part of the site is the city walls that still stand. At one time, the peaceful Roman settlement had outgrown its walls and prospered beyond them. Then, when Germanic tribes began to attack in the 5th century, the people of city retreated and attempted to rebuild the crumbling walls with anything they could find--statues, bones, and pottery. The people lost that battle and the city was destroyed, however. Those who survived fled to nearby Aeminium, which is called Coimbra today--named for the bishop of the now ruined city of Conimbriga.
Mirobriga: This is a Roman city located near Santiago do Cacém. The site includes a forum, thermal baths, and several other structures, including a well-preserved aqueduct.
Citânia de Briteiros - This Iron Age hill fort is located near Guimarães and dates back to the 3rd century BC. The ruins include stone walls, houses, and a large central plaza.
São Cucufate:The last Roman villa standing: Legend has it that the ruined building at São Cucufate in the Alentejo region was thought to be just another old farmhouse until an archeologist drove by and realized it was a Roman villa. Though hundreds of these villas had once dotted southern Portugal, finding one still intact is a rare thing. The ruins include a tank that was once a swimming pool, and hot- and cold-water public baths. The main building, flanked by two turrets, was occupied throughout the centuries. During the middle ages, a monastery was founded here, dedicated to St. Cucufate.
Belmonte: A mysterious Roman tower that defies definition can be seen near the town Belmonte. Here, in the mountains of the Centro Region is the Centrum Cellas, a three-story ruin that may have been a watch tower, but no one knows for sure.
Bobadela: A single arch from a once great Roman building stands in the town of Bobadela in the Centro region.
Idanha-a-Velha: This a tiny town in the east of Portugal, near the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, has a population of 100 today. It may also be the most fascinating place in Europe that has never been written about. This modest hamlet among the olive groves encapsulates the history of Portugal. Discreet signposts and explanations in Portuguese, French and English guide visitors through the landmarks of this living museum. Idanha-a-Velha was founded as a Roman garrison town called Egitanea in the first century and had more than 200,000 inhabitants at one time. The town was so important that it became a diocesan seat in 599 AD, with its own bishop until 1199. Idanha even had a center to coin gold. The Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Bishops' Palace all date from this period of development. The fall of the empire lead to a period of instability, during which the Visigothic King Wamba was born in its walls, legend has it. Portugal was founded in the 12th century, Idanha already belonged to the Portucale Earldom and, later, the first Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, gave it to the Templars. Its first charter dates from 1229. King Dinis included the town among the properties given to the Order of Christ in 1319, and he tried to repopulate. Yet, the once prosperous Egitanea was doomed never to regain its former glory. Today Idanha-a-Velha (Idanha-the-Old) is a national monument with archaeological significance because of its landmarks and ruins.
Ammaia: The City of Ammaia is the most important Roman ruin in the Northern Alentejo region. Set in the Natural Park of Serra de São Mamede, in São Salvador de Aramenha, near the town of Marvão, the ruins cover almost 25 metric acres.
The Roman City of Ammaia was only rediscovered in the last century. It has since been excavated and investigated by scientists from around the world. It is now a museum site.
For years the Roman remains were thought to be a villa, but only at the beginning of the last century did one begin to realize that what was buried in the Valley of Aramanha was an actual lost Roman city.
Built from scratch in the first century AD, it was a city with a forum, baths and temples over the next three hundred years. The city suffered after the collapse of Rome on the Peninsula in the 3rd century. By the time of the Moorish invasion the 9th century, the remaining residents fled to high hills of Marvão - easy to defend in a time of chaos. Ammaia's stones served to build other places, walls and monuments. The bridge would stand until the 1980s.
Pillaged, looted for stone, and buried until at the beginning of the twentieth century the existence of a large city in that area was forgotten. In the 1950s the first excavations were carried out and in recent decades the scope was also intensified, which also was helped by new technologies.
Archaeologists now can reproduce the design and architecture of Ammaia, thanks to a technology that allowed the whole area to be x-rayed.
Although its ruins were classified as National Monument in 1949, they were abandoned until the end of 1994. From this date and with the appearance of the Ammaia Foundation, every effort has been made to study and preserve what remains of this important city. Ammaia was elevated to Civitas around the year 44/45 AD. having obtained the status of Mvnicipivm still during the century. I AD., however we only have data about the same in the reign of Lúcio Vero, in the year 166 AD.