After finishing my Camino mileage for the day and checking into my hotel for the night, I decided to catch a cab and check out one of the several points of interest I had identified before leaving for Portugal. This one is ruins of a pre-Roman hilltop village dating to back to 3rd century BCE. When Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, much changed in this region, but this site predates that by a two hundred or so years.
One of my new friends who also has an interest in such things decided to join me for this little side adventure. The cab ride was very short and we were let out next to a small museum, where we were pointed to English translations of some of the printed materials. Additionally, the walls of the museum are covered with maps and detailed information about the site and the archaeological digs that have occurred here. My three years of Latin in high school pay off a little bit and between the two of us we are able to piece together some of the information.
Leaving the museum, we walk a short distance further up the hill to see the remains of some of the dwellings. What remains are stone circles the size of a small yurt. A couple of them have had their walls and roofs restored to the way they must have appeared back in the period. Presumably, this was done to show visitors how these people lived. We walk around the entire village, which consists of approximately thirty of these circular houses. It's interesting to think of the people that called this home some 2,300 years ago.
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