Ursa Major & Ursa Minor above the Ruins of Roman City Ammaia

EN: The northern constellations Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor – in a diffuse vision by a passing cloud – as seen from inside the remaining ruins of the Southern Gate Tower of the Roman City of Ammaia.

The Gradual consolidation of Roman power led to the establishment of a substantial Roman town in the 1st century. Ammaia occupied up to 25 hectares, and with a population exceeding modern-day Marvão (5000-6000 inhabitants) Ammaia occupied the site of the present-day parish of São Salvador da Aramenha. The town flourished between the 1st century BCE and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. Roman Ammaia saw the development of improved irrigation and terracing across the Marvão mountain. Chestnut cultivation – Replacing the place dominance of oak is likely to have been introduced at this time. Much of the terracing and ancient watercourses on the mountain Marvão date from this era.

Limited excavations at Ammaia in the past two decades  covering a mere 3,000 m2 (32.292 sq ft) of the town’s area – have revealed the success, provincial expanding town that included running water, a forum, baths, the bridge over the river Sever (near today’s ‘Old Bridge’), and monumental gates (one gate was removed to Castelo de Vide in the 18th century, yet sadly dynamited in 1890). The Alentejo region, meanwhile, was criss-crossed with efficient Roman roads, providing links to the wider Empire. Fine wares found at the site Ammaia suggest que Ammaia nobility had access to luxury glassware and jewelery, while archeology has Revealed that marble for the forum was imported from across the Empire. The high quality, for example, of the ‘Mosaic of the Muses’  from a Roman villa in nearby Monforte (4th century BCE)  points to the abundant riches to be made to an Alentejo landowner in the Roman era. Sadly, many artifacts from Ammaia  in particular the series of marble sculptures were removed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably by the Anglo-Portuguese Robinson family. These items are now in collections such as those of the British Museum..

Many of the excavations were concentrated over the obvious ruins or where there was evidence of subterranean structures associated with a Roman presence. Discoveries include parts of a Roman city wall with towers and a gate on the south side, with residenctial buildings; a road; a monumental paved square; remains of a house in the location Quinta do Deão; parts of a public bath building; and a centrally-located forum with well-preserved temple podium, walls of a porticus and cryptoporticus. The town plan follows a regular rectangular layout organized along two main perpendicular street axes, linking the central forum to its main gates. A city wall surrounds a roughly rectangular area of some 20 hectares. Several extramural buildings, cemeteries and roads constitute the suburban area.

PT: As constelações do norte, Ursa Maior e Ursa Menor, numa visão difusa através de uma nuvem passageira, vistas  a partir das imponentes ruínas da Porta Sul da cidade Romana da Ammaia. A Cidade de Ammaia é indubitavelmente o mais importante vestígio da sua época existente na região do norte alentejano. Localizada em pleno Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, em São Salvador de Aramenha, no concelho de Marvão, a sua área central é constituída pela Quinta do Deão e pela Tapada da Aramenha, possuindo uma área de aproximadamente 25 ha.

Embora as suas ruínas tivessem sido classificadas como Monumento Nacional em 1949, estiveram abandonadas até finais de 1994. A partir desta data e com o aparecimento da Fundação Cidade de Ammaia vêm-se desenvolvendo todos os esforços no sentido de estudar e preservar o que resta desta importante cidade. Ammaia foi elevada a Civitas por volta do ano 44/45 d.C. tendo obtido o estatuto de Mvnicipivm ainda durante o séc. I d.C., no entanto apenas temos dados sobre o mesmo no reinado de Lúcio Vero, no ano de 166 d.C.