Miróbriga

Miróbriga (Ruínas de Miróbriga)
Archaeological Ruins of Miróbriga
Roman ruins (Ruinas romanas)
The ruins of the Roman of Miróbriga
Official name: Estação Arquelógica de Miróbriga
Country	Portugal
Region	Alentejo
Sub-region	Alentejo Litoral
District	Setúbal
Municipality	Santiago do Cacém
Location	Santiago do Cacém
- elevation	226 m (741 ft)
- coordinates	38°0′34.88″N 8°41′1.74″W / 38.0096889°N 8.6838167°W / 38.0096889; -8.6838167Coordinates: 38°0′34.88″N 8°41′1.74″W / 38.0096889°N 8.6838167°W / 38.0096889; -8.6838167
Length	.38 m (1 ft), Southwest-Northeast
Width	.43 m (1 ft), Northwest-Southeast
Architects	unknown
Style	Roman
Materials	Stone, Rock, Tile
Owner	Portuguese Republic
For public	Public
Visitation	Closed (Mondays and on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December)
Management	Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Tuesday-Saturday	9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Sunday	9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Status	Property of Public Interest
Listing	Decree No.30/762, DG No.225, 26 September 1940
Website: http://mirobriga.drealentejo.pt/

Miróbriga (Mirobriga Celticorum) is an ancient Roman town located near the village and civil parish of Santiago do Cacém, in the municipality of the same name in the south-west of Portugal. Archeology revealed a that the town occupied the site of an ancient Iron Age settlement that existed since the 9th century B.C.

With the Roman colonization a commercial area developed around the Forum. The baths, among the best preserved in Portugal, consist of two adjoining buildings, possibly for male and female use respectively. The residential areas are still little known. Relatively close to the baths, there is a bridge with a single, semicircular arch. The hippodrome, the only one whose entire ground plan is completely known in Portugal, is located further from the centre.

Excavations and investigations (W. Biers, 1988), suggest that the earliest settlement began to take shape in the 9th century B.C. (Iron Age), and that the defensive walls began appearing between the 4th-3rd century B.C. This settlement occupied an area of 11,800 m², with the population inhabiting the area along the embankment and north-east corner of Castelo Velho, of which only a wall and temple remains (alongside the Roman forum).

By about the second half of the 1st century Roman occupation began, expanding the site and occupying an area of 28,000 m². At this time the thermal baths and paved road along the southeast were constructed, reflecting the Flavian economic prosperity. Around the first half of the 2nd century, the construction of the Oriental baths and hippodrome was begun, followed by a second phase of construction in the second half of the 2nd century and 3rd century.

Around the second half of the 2nd century, there were signs of abandon, that may reflect the period of political crisis caused by barbarian invasions during this period. By the end of the 4th century, there is a marked reduction in the population, although a level of continuity persisted on the site: primarily around the small Chapel of São Brás.