The Cryptoportico of Aeminium

The Roman cryptoportico of Aeminium is one of the most beautiful and original of the world. A true city underneath the city !

The Roman city of Aeminium was born 2000 years ago. The spot now occupied by Machado de Castro National Museum was the Roman forum. The cryptoportico as built to avoid the slope of the hill and to create an artificial platform. This Roman construction supported the courtyard and its surrounding buildings.

The forum was the political, religious and administrative centre of the city, located near the intersection of the two main roads – the cardo and the decumanus. These two streets used in Roman town planning had a similar orientation to the cardinal points – north-south and east-west.

In the Middle Ages, the cryptoportico was replaced by the bishop’s palace that would become in the 20th century the Machado de Castro National Museum.

The Roman cryptoportico of Aeminium is one of the most beautiful and original of the world. A true city underneath the city !

Schedule
From Tuesday to Sunday (Closes on mondays, January 1st, Easter Sunday, May 1st and December 25th)
October to March – 10:00 – 12:30 / 14:00 – 18:00
April to September – 10:00 – 18:00

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