Roman Villa of Rabaçal, Penela, Portugal A Mediterranean Production Centre and Palatial Home with Mosaic Floors from the Late Antiquity in the Territory of the Ciuitas of Conimbriga and the Lands of Sicó

Abstract

Considering that the word Villa at the same time designated an architectural structure and a land structure, at least three architectural types of Farm House or Pars Rustica are known in western Roman Villae (LEVEAU, BUFFAT, 2008, pp. 134- 135). The first type presents a previously established and highly architectural regular plan, with the buildings dedicated to production contiguous to the house, which was built with a centred plan. This type is traditionally considered as characteristic of the Mediterranean area, as it is the case of the Villa of Torre de Palma, Monforte, in the south of Portugal, dating from the beginning of the fourth century AD. This Villa is organized around three courtyards (one, integrating the pars urbana, another, connecting with the pars rustica, which is implemented around a third larger courtyard). The second type, also considered as a work of architecture and used as a model for in rure constructions in North Gaulle, presents non-contiguous agricultural buildings, although these are arranged in a regular form along a wide rectangular courtyard, with the palatial house of the Villa, normally integrating the baths, erected on one of the smaller sides of the rectangle, in an axial position. Thus, if on one hand the non-contiguous distribution of the constructions that integrate the components of the Villa of Rabacal (palatial house with mosaic floors, baths, spring nucleus, farm house and workshops of several professions), dated from the middle of the fourth century AD, is similar to the pars rustica model of the second type, on the other hand it seems to be mainly related with what will be mentioned next, since it is a joint plan of constructions that, despite being very organized, is not confined to a geometrized design. In this third type, constructions are divided, in different planes, without regularity, in a space that is not clearly delimited and to which converge alternative paths and different crossings. This provisional classification of the type of location and distribution of farm and residential houses originates from the fact that, in many cases, the Villae have been transformed into luxurious houses without agricultural production facilities.