Citânia de Briteiros

Altitude: 336m/1102ft

About 12km/7.5mi east of Braga on Monte Sao Romao, surrounded by the pleasant hills of the Serra Falperra, are the remains of the Citânia de Briteiros, an Iron Age settlement. Together with Castro de Sabroso it is Portugal's oldest known settlement to date. Fragments of pottery (much of it painted), carved stones, weapons, implements and jewelry recovered during the excavations are now in the Museu de Martins Sarmento in Guimaraes.

It is well worth taking the time to look round Citânia de Briteiros, climbing slowly up from the entrance located below the main excavation area to the two reconstructed round huts and then on to the small chapel of Sao Romao on top of the hill where there is an excellent general view over the site. History

The Celtic-Iberian settlement, discovered in 1874 and excavated from 1875 onwards under the direction of Franciso Martins Sarmento (1833-99), was probably established about 500 B.C.; its most flourishing period was in the fourth C. B.C. and, as the excavations have shown, it continued to be occupied into late Roman times.

Site

The ancient town was enclosed within three rings of ramparts and contained some 150 single roomed dwelings, round, oval or rectangular in plan, and built from stone cut to fit so snugly and firmly that no mortar was needed. The water conduits can still be seen, as well as traces of the streets, already paved with stone slabs.

Two of the round huts were reconstructed on the theory that the circular dweling with a conical roof was the basic type of human habitation. There remains considerable doubt, however, about the authenticity of the reconstructions.

A much bigger house (about 11m/36ft in diameter) is believed to have been used for meetings, and an isolated building outside the perimeter, near the Guimaraes-Braga road, was probably a cremation site.