Citânia de Briteiros

On a hill above the Ave valley, the Citânia de Briteiros is one of the most important and best-preserved Iron Age settlements in the Iberian Peninsula. Its stone houses, paved streets and defensive walls offer a rare picture of life in the north-west of the peninsula more than two thousand years ago.

A city of the Iron Age

The settlement was occupied from around the second century BC and was abandoned in the early Roman period. It was excavated from 1875 by the archaeologist Francisco Martins Sarmento, whose work made Briteiros famous across Europe and helped to found Portuguese archaeology.

What to see

• The circular stone houses, some of them reconstructed.
• The paved streets and the remains of the defensive walls.
• The “House of the Council” and other structures of the settlement.
• The nearby Museum of Martins Sarmento, in Guimarães, which holds the finds.

Visiting the site

The site is at São Salvador de Briteiros, near Guimarães. Opening hours are published by the society that manages it, so check the official website before your visit.

Visitor information: csarmento.uminho.pt.

Image credit: Citânia de Briteiros, Guimarães, by RaquelRosa7, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.