7 - Early Christian Basilica

We know, from the acts of the councils convened by the Visigothic kings, that Conimbriga was the seat of a bishopric in the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Excavations carried out in the second half of the last century uncovered a building interpreted as a basilica for Christian worship, erected over a private residence which, according to an inscription found there during the excavations, is presumed to have belonged to an individual named Tangino. One of the best-preserved structures is the baptistery tank, inserted in what would have been the peristyle of the house. To the east, next to the wall, was the entrance to the nave of the basilica, followed by the choir and, at the back, near to the wall, the chancel, the place for the celebration of the liturgy. This area would have been occupied by later burials, the most recent of which date from the 12th century, a circumstance that greatly contributed to the degradation of the archaeological structures currently visible and that makes their understanding difficult.