Citânia de Briteiros

Why go

The Sociedade Martins Sarmento, which lists the site among its spaces, describes it as a proto-historic hillfort settlement whose study began in 1874 under Francisco Martins Sarmento, who bought the land to protect the ruins, and excavation continued in the 20th century. The society dates the settlement's main phase from the 2nd century BC to the turn of the era, with occupation continuing in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD after the north-west came under Rome, and says finds from the site are shown at the Museu da Cultura Castreja at the Solar da Ponte in Briteiros. Guimarães municipal tourism says the archaeological site covers 24 hectares, about 7 of them excavated ruins open to visitors, and that the standard ticket also admits to the Museu da Cultura Castreja, with guided visits by booking. This record is the archaeological site, not the museum.