Hello everyone and welcome to my blog :-)
Today we end our visit to Tongobriga, more precisely in the bathhouse area or the so-called public spas.
Before that, I present our study visit companion, a dog called Romano :-) He appeared in this place about 15 years ago and as he couldn't find his owner, he was adopted and named with a perfect name for the place. Super sweet, he delighted the kids. Our little one happened to have two cookies in her pocket and took the opportunity to give him this little treat :-) and of course, he never let go of us, whenever we entered an area that didn't allow animals to enter, he would stay outside waiting for us.
After leaving the first space (castreja zone) we walked along the cobbled street until we reached the Forum and Bathhouse, but not before passing through the Necropolis.
The saying goes "From the earth we came and to the earth we will return", however the Romans believed that the soul remained. The dead were treated based on their posture in life and the place for their burial was also chosen based on this way of being and thinking.
The first information about the discovery of Roman graves in Tongobriga dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. But it was only in the 1980s that one of the necropolis cores, located close to the current cemetery, could be identified and excavated. In the 21st century, another, older nucleus was identified close to the spa.
A single necropolis was identified here, with different nuclei that indicate the preferential use of areas at different times. The dead were buried in a vast area along the main road, separated from the inhabited perimeter by the wall, ensuring their visibility and memory for travelers, who wished the earth to be light.
Although inhumation was practiced in the Roman world, all of the graves found in Tongobriga are cremation graves. The graves closest to the wall are the oldest.
A restaurant was built right next door and it was this same restaurant that led to the sharing of a parallel story told by the guide who accompanied us on this visit.
According to what he said and despite not being of historical interest about the place, as it is part of its modern history, it is still interesting to know that this place, during a certain period of time, had more court cases than the totality of existing processes throughout the country during that same period.
These legal proceedings had their origin in exploration and excavations with the purpose of recovering the ruins of this extremely ancient city, which is still largely buried.
Unfortunately, the mechanisms used in these situations often reveal bad decisions that lead to frustration and distrust among the population, and that is exactly what happened with the construction of this restaurant, as public interest in the exploitation of the surrounding land was alleged and ended up dispossessing several families. of their land and demolish their houses, and in the end build a restaurant claiming to be of tourist interest.
I want to leave this negative note here!
Facing the restaurant we arrived at a large space called the Forum, which stood out for its large dimensions and the fact that they realized it was located outside the inhabited area.
This forum was used to communicate decisions taken by senior officials to the remaining inhabitants.
Still in that enclosure and next to a small slope, protected by a structure made up of several support beams and corrugated metal plates, assembled to protect the ongoing excavations from the natural elements, there are places that were once extremely important within this civilization, including the Pedra Formosa spa and the public Thermal Baths.
In that space, they alternated between exercising, bathing and socializing.
It is also possible to view the place identified as the vestibulum and the apodyterium, a room heated in winter and where they left their belongings that would be kept by the people responsible for the operation and maintenance of the space.
The Sauna was accessed through a small opening in the stone, through which they would have to enter backwards and where steam was created by the contact of cold water with a cluster of heated stones deposited there.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to walk around the site, because it is under excavations and for this reason access to visitors is provided through platforms that keep us at a certain distance, which I completely understand.
Our guide there continued to add notes and tell stories that don't appear in the manuals until the moment the visit ended and we had to leave the area, as it was already at the end of visiting hours, and guess who Was he waiting for us outside, lying down catching the last rays of the sun? That's right :-) our friend Romano, who insisted on accompanying us back to the place where we had parked :-)
I hope you enjoyed.
See you around.
Wishing you much peace and health
Those who pass by us do not go alone. They leave a bit of themselves, taking a piece of us."
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince.
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