Conimbriga Roman Ruins

Conimbriga was a working Roman town on the road between Olisipo and Bracara, and enough of it has been dug out to walk the plan rather than imagine it. Streets, shop fronts, bath complexes and courtyard houses survive at knee height, floored with mosaics of hunting scenes, sea creatures and geometric knots left open to the sky. The showpiece is the House of the Fountains, where a peristyle pool has been reconnected to water and jets play over the mosaic on a timer. Cutting through all of it is a late defensive wall, thrown up in a hurry across houses that were still in use. A museum by the entrance holds the finds.

What's there

• The House of the Fountains - mosaic courtyard with the water jets running again.
• The late wall - a defensive line built straight through occupied houses.
• The House of Cantaber - a large courtyard residence with its own baths.
• The site museum - glass, bronze, sculpture and mosaic fragments from the digs.

When to go

Spring and autumn: the mosaics sit in the open and the site has almost no shade, so July afternoons are punishing. Ask when the fountains are switched on, since they run to a schedule rather than continuously. Mornings are quieter; school groups arrive mid-morning through term time.

Practical notes

Much of the town is still unexcavated under the fields, and what is visible is foundations rather than standing buildings, so it needs imagination. Some mosaics are covered by protective roofs that flatten the light for photographs. Public transport from Coimbra is slow and infrequent, and the last bus back leaves earlier than most people expect.

Nearby

Coimbra's old university city is twenty minutes north; Condeixa-a-Nova sits just up the road.