Fonte do Milho's villa
Coordinates: 41 ° 10 ′ 5 " N , 7 ° 42 ′ 6" W.
Fonte do Milho (source of the grain) is the ruin of a fortified Roman villa (a fortified farmstead) near Canelas not far from the Duero in Portugal . The excavation site was declared a national monument in 1959 .
The ruins, mentioned as "Castellos de Mouros" as early as the 18th century, were initially interpreted as the remains of a castle complex from the time of the Moorish Wars or a small fort from the Roman era, as the complex occupied a strategically dominant position in the central Duero Valley.
The archaeological investigation of the complex was started in 1947 by Fernando Russell Cortez . A north-facing, oval area with a strongly structured group of buildings was exposed in the vicinity of meter-high walls and a gate. In the floor plan of the entire facility, all buildings are grouped on the edges around a large inner courtyard. In order to create enough space, the builders had to build terrace walls. The finds of the period of use of the villa date from the 1st to the 4th / 5th. Century AD, although the initial period in the early 1st century, when the area finally came under Roman rule, is documented by coins from Augustus and Tiberius . The mosaics with depictions of fish lining a bathing pool are remarkable .
The outstanding importance of Fonte do Milho lies in the exposed infrastructure of the Roman vineyard. In the middle of the region, which is still used as a wine-growing area, numerous finds were found in the commercial district of the complex that are related to wine making, including a stone wine press.
However, the building conservation care was not carried out in the following years, and the site was temporarily forgotten. Since the 1970s, Portugal has endeavored to designate parts of its cultural treasures as UNESCO World Heritage Sites , for which UNESCO considered the Fonte do Milho as a candidate in 2001. At this point in time, the facilities were already in an advanced state of deterioration, and modern cultivation technology in the vineyard area led to progressive soil erosion and landslides that damaged the area. Since 2009 the site has been examined using the most modern analysis techniques. Mayor Nuno Gonçalves confirmed the construction of a museum in Canelas to show the history of the Roman winery. For this purpose, another architectural monument was saved with the restoration of an old house in the village: ... in addition to selected finds and descriptions, future visitors can also watch a documentary on the history of the Romans in the Duero Valley.
In a comprehensive study published in 2004 on the development of tourism in the Duero Valley, the cultural monument was not mentioned at all.
A facility with a comparable function is the Castelo da Lousa .
literature
- Fernando Russell Cortez: As escavações arqueológicas do castellum da Fonte do Milho: contributo para a demogenia Duriense . In: Instituto do Vinho (ed.): Anais do Instituto do Vinho do Porto . tape 12 . Postage 1951, p. 7-76 .
- 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. 86.
Individual evidence
- ^ Património Arquitectónico. (No longer available online.) Freguesia de Canelas do Douro, 2011, p. 1 , archived from the original on January 24, 2011 ; Retrieved on February 22, 2011 (Portuguese, list of cultural monuments in Canelas do Douro): "Património Arqueológico: Estação Arqueológica do Alto da Fonte do Milho Classificada como Monumento Nacional, pelo Decreto nº. 42692 de 30 de Novembro de 1959. Nas escavações efectuadas, foram habenrados vestígios de uma Fortaleza romana, onde foram descobertas várias moedas cunhadas com bustos de imperadores romanos, em sua maioria do tempo de Tibério. " Info: The archive link was inserted automatically Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jeronymo Contador de Argote: Memorias para a historia ecclesiastica de arcebispado de Braga, ... Lisbon 1734, Livro III. Cap. IV. No. 796, p. 491 .
- ↑ António Cavalho: Evidencia Arqueológicas da Produção de vinho. In: Francisco Germán Rodríguez Martín (ed.): Économie et territoire en Lusitanie romaine . Casa de Velázquez, Madrid 1999, ISBN 84-86839-93-9 , p. 370-390 .
- ^ Estação Arqueológica do Alto da Fonte do Milho. (No longer available online.) In: www.agenda.pt (online portal). Archived from the original on June 12, 2010 ; Retrieved February 22, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Photo around 2005?)
- ^ Castellum Fonte do Milho. (No longer available online.) In: www.cm-pesoregua.pt (online portal). Archived from the original on June 4, 2010 ; Retrieved February 22, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Dilapidated wall structures - around 2005?)
- ↑ Vestigios arqueológicos Provam que já romanos produziam vinho há dois mil anos. (No longer available online.) Journal do Algarve (Online), October 2, 2010, archived from the original on May 26, 2011 ; accessed on February 22, 2011 (Portuguese): "In autumn 2010 the director Câmara de Peso da Réguader from the responsible cultural authority Direcção Regional de Cultura do Norte (DRCN) visited the site to find out about the latest developments on the excavation site." Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Direcção Regional da Economia do Norte (ed.): Plano de Desenvolvimento Turístico do Vale do Douro . Postage 2004, p. 260 . ( Full text ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. (PDF; 11.0 MB) as Digitized)
