For our wedding anniversary, we often take a trip somewhere.
2025 was no exception; we took a trip to visit some Roman ruins in central Portugal.
The drive to 'Cidade Romana de Ammaia' in São Salvador da Aramenha took around an hour and forty minutes. We arrived at the museum and parked with no difficulty.
Access to the museum and archaeological site costs €5 per person.
A walk around the museum takes less than an hour, but there are plenty of artefacts to see. Once outside the building, the site is about 30 hectares, where you are free to walk around and view the various ruins. The majority of the site is just fields and literally ruins, but the archaeology is ongoing, and they are frequently uncovering more features.
Remnants of buildings.
Perhaps an entrance.
Possibly a temple or shrine.
It is clear to see how much of the surface has to be removed to expose the remains, a slow process as the dig moves across the land.
After we left the Roman site, it was time for lunch. The village is very small, and there appears to be only one place to eat, Restaurante D'Oliveira, so we went in to see what was on offer. The place was quite basic; however, the menu was not restricted to the usual 'prata do dia', and we had a lovely meal seated beside the small river that flows past the rear of the restaurant. The service was friendly and helpful.
After we had eaten, we took a relaxing, short walk along the riverside and returned to the car. Our next port of call was the castle at Marvão, about 10 minutes away. To get to the parking area, we had to drive all the way around the hill upon which the castle is situated. Then it was a steep walk to reach the castle itself.
The structure is very well preserved and renovated where necessary. The views around the walls are spectacular.
The canon has seen better days. Possibly, it had been repurposed and buried for many years as an iron bollard.
How neat the structure looks. Well preserved and repaired.
Health and safety, Portuguese style. Who needs handrails and barriers? Add in the fact that the wind had picked up to 'very gusty' during the afternoon, so it was quite precarious on the castle wall in some places.
By late afternoon, we were just ending our visit when the rain started.
We could have taken a full day, just at Marvão, but it was a great day out, totally recommended.