The Roman Ruins of Pisões ( pt, Ruinas Romanas de Pisões), is an important Roman
villa rustica
Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...
located in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Beja (Santiago Maior e São João Baptista)
Beja (União das Freguesias de Santiago Maior e São João Baptista) is a parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical juri ...
in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Beja, in the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
, classified as a ''Imóvel de Interesse Público'' (''Property of Public Interest'').
History
![Roman Villa of Pisões, Portugal (16800306972)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Roman_Villa_of_Pis%C3%B5es%2C_Portugal_%2816800306972%29.jpg)
The urban ''villa'' dates back to the 1st century,
and continued occupied until the 4th century, owing to the artefacts discovered on site that included ceramics,
terra sigilata, friezes, glass, bronze and coins.
The area, due to its fertile and abundant biodiversity made the location a viable site to develop a farm, support livestock and mine, products that support many of the local markets.
[ Its occupation was discontinuance; apart from the Roman period, the discovery of two Visigothic capitals and the existence of black ceramics, indicate a period of cross-pollination at the site.
A small altar, to the invocation of the goddess ]Hygieia
Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...
, suggest the name of the family that occupied the residence, the Gaio Atílio Gordo clan.[ The building belonged to an agricultural enterprise, that supplied the Roman city of ]Pax Julia ''Pax Iulia'' (also known as ''Colonia Civitas Pacensis'') was a city in the Roman province of Lusitania (today situated in the Portuguese municipality of Beja).
History
The region was inhabited during 400 BC by Celtic tribes, but there are indic ...
(today Beja) from the 1st to the 4th centuries with foodstuffs. Gaius Atilius Cordo, whose name was found on an altar stone, was one of its owners.
The rustic villa was accidentally re-discovered in 1967,[ during the course of agricultural work, resulting in immediate archaeological investigations in the area.][
]
Architecture
The site is situated on the flanks of a small hill, and the ''villa'' implanted on a small incline along a watercourse in the Herdade de Almagrassa, not far from a Roman dam, and approximately southwest of Beja.[
Clearly visible is the pars urbana, the living area of the owners. ]Mosaics
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
with geometrical and naturalistic motives are to be found in the more important of the over 40 rooms of the pars urbana.[ There is also a well-preserved ]hypocaustum
A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
(an underground structure for heating) of the spa.[ The ]apodyterium
In ancient Rome, the apodyterium (from grc, ἀποδυτήριον "undressing room") was the primary entry in the public baths, composed of a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where citizens could store clothing and other belongings ...
, caldarium
230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor.
A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...
, tepidarium
The tepidarium was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from t ...
and frigidarium
A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool.
The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought ...
have been identified. Also in the ''pars rustica'', where labourers, animals and farm tools were located and the ''pars fructuaria'' (including the granary, the winery and stables), recognizable details are visible.[
The villa is oriented to the south, with vestages of the site divided among several rectangular spaces of varying dimensions.][ In addition to the pars urbana, there was a pars rustica and pars fructuaria, that included many of the structures, service areas, warehouses, presses, barns and areas to transform agricultural and fruitstuffs.][
In reality, the thermae constitutes one of the more relevant examples of private Roman baths complexes in the Portuguese territory, and was constructed in two phases after the construction of the residential homes.][ They included the ]apodyterium
In ancient Rome, the apodyterium (from grc, ἀποδυτήριον "undressing room") was the primary entry in the public baths, composed of a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where citizens could store clothing and other belongings ...
(where people would practice exercises), the laconicum
The ''laconicum'' (i.e. Spartan, ''sc.'' ''balneum'', bath). Cf. Greek ''pyriaterion to lakonikon'' "the Laconian vapour-bath"; , . was the dry sweating room of the Roman ''thermae'', contiguous to the ''caldarium'' or hot room. The name was given ...
(or sauna), the strigilus (where residents would scrub dirt and oils from their bodies), the caldarium (where they would bath in a warm pool) and, finally, the tepidarium or frigidarium (where they would repose).[ These spaces surround a central atrium (or ]peristylus
''Peristylus'', sometimes commonly known as ogre orchids or bog orchids is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It consists of over 100 known species found across much of East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asi ...
) marked by columns framing a central pool (impluvium
The ''impluvium'' (pl. ''impluvia'') is a water-catchment pool system meant to capture rain-water flowing from the ''compluvium'', or slanted roof. Often placed "inside", instead of "outside", a building, it is a notable feature in many archite ...
), with access to the north by a staircase.[ Along the southern flank is a large patio. To the west of the peristylus is a hall of larger dimensions decorated by a semicircular wall with a small lake in the centre.][ To the west of the residential group are bathing rooms that included praefurnium and three halls, with a central rectangular space.][ The extremes are terminated by semi-circular ]caldarium
230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor.
A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...
over arches supporting columns, round the rectangular tank with a five degree incline access. To the north, are 10 columns divided at a distance of .[ To the south of the villa, and parallel to the river is a large pool with a six-step access. Many of the pavements in the halls are covered in black and white mosaics, with the oldest being polychromatic with geometric or animal designs.][ In a few of the chambers there are slabs of marble for flooring and part of the walls, with remnants of stucco on these latter walls.][
]
Dam
The villa is highlighted by its connection to a developed water collection and storage system. The Roman dam
This is a list of Roman dams and reservoirs. The study of Roman dam-building has received little scholarly attention in comparison to their other civil engineering activities, even though their contributions in this field have been ranked alon ...
is located just north of the villa and includes an unreinforced gravity dam reinforced by a thick wall. The masonry and wedge bricks are specially constructed to support the structure, with gaps sealed with small stones. The dam closes a hydrological basin that extends to Beja, covering an area of . It is assumed that the reservoir created from this dam occupied a length of and area of , holding a volume . The dam helped to supply water for agriculture and recreational purposes (including the swimming pool and thermae) in the villa.[
]
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman ruins of Pisões
Roman villas in Portugal
Buildings and structures in Beja, Portugal
Properties of Public Interest in Portugal