Roman Ruins in Vilamoura, Algarve Portugal

The Algarve region in southern Portugal is Europe’s burgeoning golf destination, with 35 courses and more in the pipeline. Serviced by an international airport in its chief city, Faro, the area is embraced by Europeans for its warm Mediterranean climate and 155km of south-facing coastline.

Many visitors choose to stay in the modern holiday area of Vilamoura, built around Portugal’s largest leisure marina. Water lovers will enjoy Vilamoura’s sandy beaches and big-game fishing, while shopping arcades with designer boutiques, restaurants and cafes are popular alternative daytime attractions. Vilamoura’s bars, clubs and casino flourish at night. Nearby are carefully preserved Roman ruins, unearthed during construction work in the 1960s.

The ruins at Cerro da Vila are of a rustic villa surrounded by fertile fields and supplied with water from a damn built two kilometres away.

Part of the Ossonoba territory, the villa was originally inhabited during the first half of the first century AD. Its location encouraged the use of marine resources and trade, as shown by the existence of a port.
As from the second century – more specifically in the third – the residential area gained imposing dimensions. Water was a constant feature, pouring from spouts and statues into the garden lake, which was the central space that the entire house revolved around. The house itself comprised a large room for receptions and summer meals, the bedrooms, the kitchen, and service sections, including a cryptoporticum.
The walls were covered in stucco and had brightly painted frescoes showing floral and geometrical motifs. The floor was decorated with multicoloured mosaics. Sculptures of gods and men decorated the interior spaces, combining to form a magnificent whole of colour and carved stone.
Little is known about the local economy, but several workshops with water tanks suggest either that fish was processed there or, more probably, that cloth was dyed. The discovery of large numbers of imported goods – anchors, lamps, pottery and glass – proves that Cerro da Vila was part of the Roman Empire’s trade network.

The lords of Cerro da Vila were buried in mausoleums with a columbarium, a crypt with small lateral niches that held the urns containing their ashes. At a later date, a vast cemetery grew up with proper burial spaces, although this has only been partially excavated.

A group of silos from the Islamic period, built inside the Roman houses, reveals that the buildings were continuously occupied. In order to upgrade the site and open it to the public, a museum with a monographic exhibition on the site has been built. A brief guide has also been published to accompany the exhibition. Surveys of the port area and studies on the mosaics and the architecture of the villa will also be carried out.

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Visitors Reception Museum with information on the archaeological site Signposted route Parking

Open Summer (May to October) Morning: 10:00-13:00 Afternoon: 16:00-21:00 Winter (November to April) Morning: 9:30-12:30 Afternoon: 14:00-18:00

Admission Paid entry Special rates for young people and the elderly Access Part of the Vilamoura tourist complex Further information Direcção Regional de Faro do IPPAR Phone: +351 289 803 633 Fax: +351 289 803 631 E-mail: drf.ippar@ippar.pt Museum Phone: +351 289 312 153 Fax: +351 289 302 783 IPPAR Phone: +351 213 614 200 Fax: +351 213 628 472 E-mail ippar@ippar.pt