THREE ROMAN tombs were found during the archaeological excavations for the new car park at Largo das Mouras Velhas in Faro (read ‘New car park for Faro centre’ in last week’s edition of The Resident).
The find was not a complete surprise, however, as the Algarve capital is said to be built on top of a cemetery more than 2,000 years old.
According to the Faro Câmara president, the archaeological findings will not influence the construction of the car park.
“The archaeological teams will keep on working and there are no indications that we might have to change the previous calendar to finish the works,” said José Apolinário.
There were discoveries at other construction sites in the old centre of the city. In 1878, 38 tombs were found by archaeologist Estácio da Veiga, one of the most important investigators in the region’s history.
Then, in 1938, another Portuguese archaeologist, called Abel Viana, found seven tombs in a nearby street. Since then, several excavations in different locations nearby resulted in the discovery of another 90 tombs.
According to the Departamento de Cultura e Património of Faro Câmara, these findings will help to better identify the dimensions of what is referred as the biggest cemetery of Ossonoba, the ancient roman capital in the Algarve.
The car park, with an estimated budget of 3.8 million euros, is to be built in Largo das Mouras Velhas, near Lethes Theatre. The facility will have spaces for 224 vehicles. Faro Câmara started the works at the beginning of July, after reaching an agreement with the local branch of the Red Cross, which owns part of the area.
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