11 - The Insula North of the Baths

In the mid-1st century AD, after the main public monuments in the city centre—the forum and the baths—had already been built, the blocks surrounding one of the main streets were occupied by buildings that the Romans called insulae. These consisted of multi-story buildings (two or three in a small provincial town like Conimbriga), which bore a clear resemblance to modern apartment buildings. The modest size of the residences and the almost complete absence of decorative ornamentation testify that they were occupied by people from a rather humble population and social stratum (linked to the indigenous environment or the servile world), who benefited very little from Roman development. This, added to the subsequent destruction suffered after the abandonment of the city, explains the poor conservation of the visible ruins. The houses integrated into these insulae were houses with an internal courtyard, around which several compartments were organized, with those on the ground floor often dedicated to commercial or artisanal activities, as is also the case in many buildings today. These activities, of course, occupied most of the facades, with shops and workshops opening directly onto the street. Of these modest houses, we know of two examples located in the vicinity of the baths, in the so-called "insula north of the baths". One of them was demolished in the last quarter of the 1st century to make way for the esplanade providing access to the great southern baths. The other, of which some vestiges are still visible, was completely remodeled, featuring in its central part a courtyard with four columns, flanked by a portico.