Aquis Querquennis is a Roman fort in

Ourense Province Ourense (in Spanish, ''Orense'') is a Spanish province, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to C ...

, Galicia. It was constructed circa 69-79 AD to house soldiers building the Via XVIII and was occupied by the

Legio VII Gemina __NOTOC__ Legio VII Gemina (Latin for "The Twins' Seventh Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was raised in AD 68 in Hispania by the general Galba to take part in his rebellion against the emperor Nero. "Gemina" means the legion ...

until that unit was posted to

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

in 120 AD and the fort abandoned. The fort was rediscovered in the 1920s and some excavations carried out by local archaeologist Florentino López Cuevillas. In 1949 the site was flooded by construction of the As Conchas reservoir. Since 1975 excavations have been carried out on the fort during periods when the reservoir level falls.

Description

The fort was constructed as a barracks for Roman legionaries working to construct the Via XVIII (also known as the Via Nova) between Bracara Augusta (modern-day

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, Portugal) and Asturica Augusta (modern-day Astorga, Spain). The fort housed around 500 infantry and cavalry soldiers and was built circa 69-79 AD. The soldiers were drawn from the third cohort of the

, whose main base was at modern-day León, Spain. The unit was transferred to

in 120 AD and the fort was then abandoned.

Archaeology

The site of the fort lay forgotten until the 1920s when it was rediscovered and excavated by local archaeologist Florentino López Cuevillas. The site was flooded in 1949 as part of a

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

-era plan to construct the As Conchas reservoir. Parts of the site are exposed when the reservoir level falls. Excavations have been carried out on the exposed site since 1975 and the full extent, some , was revealed by aerial photography in the 1980s. It is thought to be one of the largest Roman military camps in

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. Excavations have uncovered a headquarters, two granaries, a hospital, five barracks and a mansion to house travelling officials, plus roads, drains, walls, towers, gates and a perimeter road. Because of its size the site has become known locally as A cidá ("the city"). The fort was designated a

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

in 2018 and houses the Aquae Querquennae-Vía Nova Interpretation Center, a museum of the road and fort. It lies near to the natural hot springs and Roman bathhouses at O Bano. The site in its entirety was uncovered in August 2022 when reservoir levels fell to 49% of capacity.

References

{{Commonscat, Aquis Querquennis 1st-century fortifications Roman fortifications in Hispania Tarraconensis Roman legionary fortresses in Spain Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Galicia (Spain)