Museu de Cerro da Vila

The Cerro de Vila museum is located near the Quarteira suburb of Vilamoura, on the Algarve coastline.  Some pretty interesting Roman archaeological excavations are to be found here, with most of the ruins located within the museum complex.

The site had been occupied by humans since the Bronze Age, but the Romans were the first to establish a large-scale, permanent settlement here in the year 27BC. Two large Roman villas were located at the site; today fragments of the walls can be seen alongside sections of mosaic. The ruins of the bath-houses can also be visited.

The settlement was an important fishing post and alongside the villas there was a fishing port. It was a centre for producing a popular paste known as ‘garum’, created by leaving fish out in the sun; which was exported across the Roman Empire as a condiment. After the Romans had left, the site was occupied by the Visigoths and later by the Moors. A number of silos left over from the Moorish period can still be seen today.

To complement the archaeological site, there is a small, interesting exhibition containing many artefacts that have been found on the site.

An average visit takes a little over an hour and the entrance fee is very reasonably priced at around 3 Euros for an adult. Typically, the museum opens from 9.30-12.30am in the morning and from 2.00-6.00pm in the afternoon.