Boca do Rio

Boca do Rio ( German for “mouth of the river” ) is a Roman villa and port facility in the municipality of Budens on the Algarve coast in Portugal . From the road N125 Lagos - Sagres you can reach it about 15 km behind Lagos on the coast between Burgau and Salema , on the beach "Praia da Boca do Rio", which is in the Natural Park Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina .

On the beach is the ruined area on the eastern slope of a hill, disturbed by the tsunami of 1755. Excavations in the 19th century uncovered part of a Roman villa maritima , some remains of the wall are visible on the slope edge. These are parts of the living area (pars urbana) of the villa, the utility area (pars rustica) lies behind it, inland. Remnants of the thermal baths are believed to be among the remains of buildings of the royal fisheries from the 17th century that are still visible today. Most of the mosaics , coins and small finds found between the 19th century and today are on display in the Museum of Lagos.

At the eastern end of the beach on the slope of the hill, at the mouth of a river, the remains of a bank reinforcement made of large stones can be seen. They probably formed the entrance to the ancient port in the "Val de Boi", which is now swampy and silted up. The area was disrupted by a tsunami after the great earthquake of 1755 . In 2017 archaeologists discovered the remains of a Roman fish sauce production facility . They came across tanks from the first and fifth centuries AD.

Fort S. Luis de Almádana from the 17th century is located on the cliffs to the east.

literature

SPM Estácio da Veiga. Antiguidades Monumentaes do Algarve , Lisbon 1910 (O Arqueólogo Português Volume 15)
JD Alarcâo: Roman Portugal. 1988 vol. 2 p. 183.
Thomas G. Schattner (Ed.): Archaeological guide through Portugal (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 74). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2313-1 p. 203

Web links

37.068361760556 -8.8103270530556Coordinates: 37 ° 4 ′ 6.1 " N , 8 ° 48 ′ 37.2" W.