Tróia
| Tróia | ||||||
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| Basic data | ||||||
| Region : | Alentejo | |||||
| Sub-region : | Alentejo Littoral | |||||
| District : | Setubal | |||||
| Concelho : | Grândola | |||||
| Freguesia : | Carvalhal | |||||
| Coordinates : | 38 ° 28 ′ N , 8 ° 52 ′ W | |||||
| Residents: | 1,348 (as of 2001) | |||||
| Surface: | 25.5 km² | |||||
| Population density : | 53 inhabitants per km² | |||||
Tróia is a peninsula in Portugal and extends from Comporta to the ferry pier for the crossing to Setúbal . Troía belongs administratively to the municipality ( Freguesia ) Carvalhal and the district of Grândola , while Comporta belongs to the district of Alcácer do Sal . The districts of Grândola and Alcácer do Sal are assigned to the district of Setúbal.
Most of the peninsula and its dunes are part of the Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado nature reserve . On Troía are the ruins of the Roman settlement of Cetóbriga . The peninsula's beaches and dunes are known for their beauty.
tourism
Tróia is not far from the metropolises of Lisbon and Setúbal and can be reached directly from Setúbal via a ferry. Since 2008, various tourism groups have started to expand the area of Tróia with various holiday resorts, bungalows, golf course , marina and a casino. The largest complex, which also includes the Marina de Tróia marina , was planned and built by the Portuguese financial group Sonae as a TróiaResort . The site is to be expanded in several stages over the next few years.
The Roman plants
Tróia, the oldest Portuguese excavation site, is located just under four kilometers south of modern Tróia in the Setúbal district in Portugal . First excavations have been carried out since 1850. English reports tell of mosaics on the upper floor of the houses. Despite the restoration at the beginning of the 1980s, Tróia is in poor condition. When the buildings were uncovered, however, they were still remarkably well preserved.
The name
There is no pre-Roman settlement. The ancient name of the place is unknown, and how the modern name Tróia came about remains in the dark. Since it was mentioned for the first time in the 16th century, when antiquity was often present, it is assumed that associations with the famous Troy in Asia Minor might arise when looking at the ruins .
Foundation purpose
The purpose of the plant was the production of garum and other fish derivatives in a place where all the ingredients were available: fish, salt, connection to trade routes on water and on land and a local market in nearby Cetóbriga (today Setúbal ).
The ancient menu was meager, meat was rare. People lived on the so-called Mediterranean Triassic: grain, olive oil and wine. The custom of combining cereal dishes with a spicy fish paste took place in the 2nd century BC. Entrance to the Roman kitchen. In Lusitania the first garum plants in the late 1st century arose v. BC simultaneously with the establishment of the province under Augustus . This finding is based archaeologically on the discovery of Terra Sigillata , a pale red, stamped fine ceramic from Arezzo in Italy . It is the oldest finds in Tróia, which therefore dates the foundation.
Tróia lived from processing fish . There were a large number of fish processing plants on the coast of Portugal. For Tróia it has been calculated that the so-called factories I and II could have produced around 250 cubic meters of garum per month. Most of it was consumed locally and in the surrounding area. Some of the items were shipped, including a separate type of amphora , the so-called Lusitan amphora. B. also found Trier . If a monthly production had been shipped, around 200 to 300 larger freighters with a payload of up to 1000 amphorae would have been required. The potteries in which the amphorae were made were found on the banks of the Tejo and Sado rivers , where clay deposits are rich .
The economic boom did not lead to an appreciation of Tróia. For all that is known, the place had the status of a village ( vicus ). The settlement was abandoned in the middle of the 5th century. The reason is unknown. It may be due to the changed eating habits at this point in time. There are no archaeological indications for assuming a natural disaster. Over 50 rectangular basins, which were used for the production of fish derivatives, have been excavated over three kilometers across the field of ruins and along the river bank. These are pools of various sizes connected to one another and lined up in a row , which were lined on the inside with Opus signinum , a waterproof plaster. The reason for the stringing together will lie in the work technique. The fish were washed, sorted by species, gutted and salted. For crabs, mussels and seafood , the shells had to be removed and the soft tissues selected. Herbs and other ingredients were mixed in, maybe soaked beforehand. The mass had to ferment.
The largest complexes, factories I and II, are located near the thermal baths or north of it. In total they were in operation for over 400 years. Different phases can be distinguished:
- Built in the second half of the 1st century and used until the end of the 2nd century.
- Closure at the beginning of the 3rd century, which is justified with the general decline in this period,
- Repair and resumption of operations by the end of the 3rd century
- renewed repair work at the beginning of the 4th century and continued production until the end of the century.
At the pools there is a bathing facility from the 3rd century with the usual equipment: furnace, hot and cold bath - caldarium or frigidarium - with associated water basins and the three-pillar hall for exercises or encounters. In places the panels of the marble wall cladding are still preserved. Since the intermediate floor and the hypocausts are missing, the impression arises that the bathroom is on a lower level. Due to the proximity of the bath to the basin - both form a structural unit - it has been assumed that the thermal bath was intended for the workers.
Burial grounds
The layout of the two necropolises and a mausoleum in the middle of the village is surprising . Graves usually had their place in front of the city. An older necropolis is at Factory II, and an early Christian one at the auditorium / basilica. The mausoleum, formerly known as the columbarium due to the niches in the walls , is interpreted according to the latest research as the grave of the family of the factory owner. It dates from the end of the 1st century. The residential buildings on Rua da Princesa are two-story. Nothing remains of the luxury of furnishings that they still had when they were exposed.
Auditorium / basilica
A relatively high complex is located to the west next to the Nossa Senhora de Tróia chapel. The shape of the 22.5 m long core area, which is not quite rectangular in shape, reminds us that there was also a basin area for garum production here, the walls of which were used during the redesign, possibly around 300 AD. The organization of this space as a whole and in relation to neighboring structures saw different phases. Its importance results from the presumed adaptation as an early Christian cult area. It had column positions which, according to the identification of some of the stands, ran strangely across and wall paintings , which in the 1920s still included an unequivocally recognizable Christogram with alpha and omega that made it easier to classify the monument. Even if it is lost today, Tróia has the privilege of having an exceptionally instructive, and indeed the largest in situ surviving legacy of late antique wall paintings on the Iberian Peninsula . You can see imitations of marble slabs, colorful geometric repeat patterns and friezes perceived in perspective, on the pilasters also vegetables and a kantharos . With regard to parallels, the late 4th century, perhaps even its end or the beginning of the 5th century, was suggested as the dating of this painterly decoration.
A little south-east, late antique grave systems with opus signinum and plate closures were found in a cemetery .
See also
literature
- J. de Alarcão: Roman Portugal 1988 Vol. 2 Fasz 2. 128.
- J. Edmondson: In: Les villes du Lusitanie romaine: hierarchies et terretoires. Table ronde international du CNRS, Talence 1988 (1990) pp 123-147.
- 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. 155