Conimbriga

Surrounded by groves of olive trees and rolling hills, Conímbriga is home to one of the Iberian Peninsula's most important archaeological sites. It began as a small settlement in Celtic or possibly pre-Celtic times. In 27 BC, on his second Iberian visit, the emperor Augustus established a Roman province that came to be called Lusitania. It was during this period that, as the Portuguese historian Jorge Alarcão wrote, "Conímbriga was transformed by the Romans from a village where people just existed into a city worth visiting." It still is. There is a café at the on-site museum for refreshments, though you’ll find a broader choice of bars and restaurants in the town of Condeixa-a-Velha, where archaeologists believe still more Roman remains await excavation.