1 - Introduction: From the entrance to the Roman road

Welcome to the ruins of the Roman city of Conimbriga, the most visited archaeological site in Portugal. Strategically located on a plateau bordered by natural defences, the Rio dos Mouros to the South, and the fluvio-karstic canyon of Condeixa-a-Velha to the North, the urban nucleus that would give rise to Conimbriga developed progressively between the Late Bronze Age (9th century BC) and the Roman conquest (2nd century BC). In the first two centuries of our era, the city would reach its peak. The crisis of the Empire from the 3rd century onwards and the Germanic invasions in the 5th century AD were responsible for the decline of urban life, to the point that, in the middle of the medieval period, the site was definitively abandoned. Even before reaching the parking lot, you could already see the remains of the early imperial wall, built during the time of Emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). This structure was not defensive in nature: its function was primarily honorary and religious, serving to delimit the city's perimeter. Next to the parking lot, the remains of the monumental gate that marked the entrance to the city from the road that ran from Olisipo (Lisbon) to Bracara Augusta (Braga) are still preserved.