Ilha do Pessegueiro
| Ilha do Pessegueiro | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 37 ° 50 '0 " N , 8 ° 47' 52" W | |
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| length | 320 m | |
| width | 200 m | |
| Highest elevation | 21 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The Ilha do Pessegueiro ( German "Peach Tree Island" ) is a small Portuguese island . It belongs to the municipality of Porto Covo and the district of Sines in the Alentejo Litoral .
It is an island 250 m off the Atlantic coast , about five kilometers from Porto Covo , between the port cities of Sines and Vila Nova de Milfontes . In addition to a fort from the 16th century, the beach and nature of the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina National Park are worth seeing.
history
Although there are a few pre-Roman finds from the 4th or 3rd century BC. And the island is identified with the place "Poetanion" from Flavius Avienus " Ora maritima " - a script of the 4th century, which is compiled from reports up to 1000 years older - it was the Romans who in the middle of the 1st century AD Century erected the first verifiable buildings on the island. The Roman buildings must have been covered with thatch or other perishable materials, because roof tile finds do not go back to the 2nd or 3rd century.
The Roman ruins in the saddle on the southern tip of the island were uncovered between 1980 and 1984. You can see rectangular buildings, which in some cases have two or more interiors and two rounded floor plans. A bread and a melting furnace for metals can be recognized by the holes in the rammed earth floor. The buildings and the ovens belong to the 1st and 2nd centuries as well as some tanks for fish processing, most of which, as well as a bathing facility, date from the 3rd or 4th century.
In the 16th century, when the fort was built, it was planned to build a quay wall or port on the northern tip of the island. Work began in 1588, but was stopped in 1603 due to impracticability. The quarry and the remaining blocks on the north side also date from this time. The fort, which was later given a counterpart across from it on the mainland, had the task of protecting the construction work from attacks by the corsairs.
literature
- 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. 189.
Web links
- [1] Description