As you may have picked up, I’ve been in Portugal again recently. As well as visiting some old favourites, we ventured north to the old capital of the country, Coimbra (more on this in later posts), and on our way back to Lisbon stopped off at a wonderful historical site called Conimbriga. This site, a few miles south of Coimbra, was the Romans’ capital while they were here in Portugal, some two millenia ago.
OK, I know that this blog is supposed to be about gardens and gardening. But I occasionally feature something that is only loosely connected (if at all), just to add a bit of variety. And in truth, there is a link to gardening here, as you’ll see later.
This extensive site displays the bones of an important Roman settlement and includes some sensitive reconstruction to help you get the scale and proportions of the place- the recreation of the Forum is particularly impressive.
The space of the ancient Forum recreated on site..
A model of how the Forum might have really looked
And the other immediately remarkable thing is the wealth of mosaic floors on show, some open to the air, others carefully protected under a large sheltering canopy.
But the really noteworthy feature- well I think so- is the re-creation of the Fountain Gardens, including (for 50 cents a go) the chance to see the way the fountains might have embellished this calm, sheltered space set amid the bustle of the wider settlement.
The Fountain Garden…
Complete with Fountains…
A plan and description of the garden and the huge villa it was housed within
A modern day take on water gardens
After touring the open site, it was something of a relief (from the sun) to get inside the nearby Museum, which helps add further interpretation to the site and houses a range of beautiful artefacts discovered here.
Old School Gardener
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Wow! Impressive remains. makes Vindolanda and Housesteads look a bit tame. Sorry to nit pick, but in your opening paragraph you suggest that the Romans were still in Portugal at the time of Napoleon. now that would have been an interesting fight.
Well spotted comrade editor- two millenia? 😉
Looking at the mosaic floors makes one wonder if that was where the idea came from to plant your lovely formal boxwood gardens.
Nice thought Judy. I wonder if another big influence was the Moors and their courtyard gardens traditonally using myrtle as formal hedging?