Located very close to the pretty town of Marvão, in the heart of the Alentejo, in the heart of the Serra de S. Mamede Natural Park, the ruins of the Roman city of Ammaia are located in an area of great beauty, attesting to its great heritage.
In 1995, archaeological excavations began on the site, uncovering around 3,000 m2, although it is believed that the original area of the city was around twenty hectares.
The curious thing about these ruins is that in the 5th and 9th centuries they suffered the effects of a cataclysm that buried the lower part of the urban area, thus belonging to one of the few cities of the empire that, probably due to natural effects, remained preserved and on which no other urban developments were developed throughout history.
It is thus possible to study the entire urban fabric of a Roman city, highlighting important structures such as the “podium” of a temple probably from the 1st century, and the existence of public baths, as well as other domestic structures.
There is a “site museum” on site, the Ammaia City Monographic Museum, which shows the daily life of the population that lived here, as well as the various objects found and inventoried here, including one of the most important collections of Roman glass in the Iberian Peninsula.
A large part of the area occupied by the ruins is located on land owned by the Ammaia City Foundation, whose primary objective is to study, restore and preserve this important National Monument.