The remains of a substantial Roman countryside villa were found by accident at Pisðes, a few miles west of Beja, in 1967. The villa apparently included over 40 rooms and was occupied between 1C-4C.
A nearby dam (the line – wall – at the top of the Google map) supplied the villa with water, held in a reservoir, which was heated in the hypocaust – no bathing in only cold water here!
A terrace with columns and mosaic flooring, and mosaics on the more important rooms in the villa are visible, but I wondered why they are not covered in some way to protect them from the weather, and people.
A swimming pool! This part of the Alentejo bakes in temperatures of up to 40C in the summer – just look at all that lovely cool water!
It is worth taking time to visit this site, as well as the Roman Villa at Cucufate.
Further information
Pisões
The Villa at Pisões, which also has an aerial photograph of the site in 1971, as well as further photographs of the mosaics
Interesting blogsite about the Romans
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