Condeixa-a-Nova

Conímbriga was therefore a castle when the Romans arrived here in 138 BC and took over the Oppidum. In the time of the Emperor Augustus, the Forum and the baths were the first buildings to be built.

The water came from a place known today as Mãe-de-Água de Alcabideque and through an aqueduct which is still visible today.The city was walled, a basilica was built and also many places of worship.

When Conímbriga was given the statute of a township, probably between 70 and 80 AD, a new Forum was built. Its Portico and the new square, populated with magnificent statues, proved the power of the Flaviae.

The streets and the houses with its fresh and perfumed patios, the floors paved with polychromatic mosaics and the smell coming from the baths, lead us to imagine a pompous and almost “imperial” Conímbriga. In 464, the Suevi imprisoned Cantabro, the master of the house, next to the wall of the city. This was the beginning of the city’s decline and in 586 the bishop decided to leave the city. Masters worked these stones, Arab coins were found, but the population settled in a nearby valley: Vila Cova de Condessa Domna Onega – Condeixa-a-Velha, where we can still see the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre.

On this journey we advise a lengthy visit to Condeixa, this time to Condeixa-a-Nova (new part). Its palaces and the Church of Stª Cristina deserve an attentive look.

In Condeixa nature was generous. A walk through the Mata da Bufarda, in Sicó Mountain, proves this. It is a wonderful world where the oak, the scarlet oak and the cork tree mark the south. We are enchanted by the discovery of small bright coloured flowers. Then, climbing up the Janeanes Mountain one can see very far. From the top of the mountain we can see the Rabaçal Valley in all its splendour.But in Condeixa the enchantment goes further than the view: the hand painted pottery and the good tasting roasted goat are a must for the visitor.