![\"\"](\"http:\/\/petersontravels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20181230_1204021931951450556224466.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThese mosaic floors were discovered in 1899 during preliminary excavations. This one is from a dining room in a house on the property (since relocated). It was built in the late 2nd or 3rd centuries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Another floor of a house from the same time period, this time in the actual location of the house.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This one had a very distinctive pattern. Can you see it?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Maybe these shots of the floor will make it more obvious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This was known as the House of the Swastika. Long before being used as a symbol by Hitler, it was a sign of divinity and spirtuality. I’m just glad some form of intolerance hasn’t forced them to cover this up here in Portugal. I can’t say the same if there was a similar historical site in America, but the Romans didn’t make it that far.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This area was called the House of the Fountains. It was discovered in 1939 and was built in the first half of the 2nd century. There are a lot of mosaic floors and well as water features. The original house that sat on this site was demolished for the building of a fortification called the Late-Empire wall….this seemed to be a trend. Most of the best preserved ruins were there because they were initially demolished for a fortification that was built right on top of them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One of the mosaic floors.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It seemed like the bulk of the mosaics in this house were based on hunting, so this was obviously the redneck Roman house!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n There were some areas where it was pretty obvious they had some recent extensive refurbishment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I didn’t get a shot of it, but here is a Tripadvisor photo of the Forum the way it looks today.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Here is a shot from the museum that shows how it looked in Roman times.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n This was a very good visit, and well worth going out of your way for. The history is amazing, and the restaurant on site actually serves some pretty good Portuguese food! Make this a must visit if you come to Portugal! It is right outside the city of Coimbra.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our son Fletcher turned 22 on December 30th. For his birthday he wanted to see something “old”, as in Roman ruins. I had read up on Conimbriga, which has some of the most extensive Roman ruins in Portugal. It’s about an hour and a half drive south of Porto, so we hired our previous Daytrip … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n