1st - 5th / 6th century AD

Fish processing unit (Hotel Palácio do Governador)

An enormous fish processing factory, one the greatest exports of
Felicitas Iulia Olisipo
, built on a site that, at the time, was outside the city limits.
A rectangular layout, with 16 thousand square feet in area, this unit had a maximum production capacity of about 18 thousand cubic feet, enough to fill 15 thousand
amphorae
.
The complex operated during around 500 years, between the 1st or 2nd century AD until the 5th or 6th century, although the production intensity was not constant through time.
The thirty-four excavated
cetariae
were organized around a central terrace. Between this terrace and the main row of tanks, there was a circulation corridor, containing smaller
cetariae
and some circular structures, related with cleaning the production unit.
Large part of the remains date to the final period of the factory's operation, but the discovery of a significant group of Dressel 14
amphorae
allowed researchers to date beginning of production to the 1st or 2nd century AD.
This fish-processing complex was very important to the economy of the Tagus estuary and the
Lusitania
province, in addition to representing an innovative spatial organization for this type of establishment, located across a more extensive riverside area than previously thought. Until its identification, the known units were concentrated in present-day downtown, around the Tagus channel and riverside area, while the Belém Tower Governor's House is located in the city's hinterland.
Part of the remains are visible on the location.
Add to route
Visitable

Multimedia

The industrial belt of Olisipo

Typology

Fish preparations

Archeological interventions

2003; 2006

Suggested reading

Fabião, C. (2009) - O Ocidente da Península Ibérica no século VI. Sobre um pentanummium de Justiniano I encontrado na unidade de produção de preparados de peixe da Casa do Governador da Torre de Belém, Lisboa. Apontamentos de Arqueologia e Património. Lisboa: Era, Arqueologia. 4, pp. 25-50.

Fabião, C.; Filipe, I.; Dias, I.; Gabriel, S.; Coelho, M. (2008) - Projecto A Indústria de recursos haliêuticos no período Romano: a fábrica da Casa do Governador da Torre de Belém, o estuário do Tejo e a fachada atlântica. Apontamentos de Arqueologia e Património. Lisboa: Era, Arqueologia. 1, pp. 35-40.

Filipe, I. (2011) - Casa do Governador da Torre de Belém: o caso de uma unidade de produção de preparados de peixe no âmbito da economia romana. Tese de Mestrado. Lisboa: Universidade de Lisboa.

Filipe, I.; Fabião, C. (2010) - Uma unidade de produção de preparados de peixe de época romana na Casa do Governador da Torre de Belém (Lisboa): uma primeira apresentação. Arqueologia e História. Lisboa: AAP. 58-59, pp. 103-118.

Filipe, I. (2017) - Casa do Governador da Torre de Belém: uma fábrica de preparados de peixe de época romana na periferia de Olisipo. In Fernandes, L.; Bugalhão, J.; Fernandes, P. A., coords. - Debaixo dos Nossos Pés. Pavimentos Históricos de Lisboa. Lisboa: Museu de Lisboa, pp. 118-119.

Gabriel, S.; Fabião, C.; Filipe, I. (2009) - Fish remains from the Casa do Governador - A Roman fish processing factory in Lusitania. In Makowiecki, D.; Hamilton-Dyer, S.; Riddler, I.; Trzaska-Nartowski, N.; Makohonienko, M., eds. - Fishes - Culture - Environment Through Archaeoichthyology, Ethnography & History. The 15th Meeting of the Icaz Fish Remainsworking Group (FRWG). September 3-9, 2009 in Poznan & Torun, Poland. Environment and Culture. 7, pp. 117-119.

Address

Rua Bartolomeu Dias, 117 (Hotel Palácio do Governador), Lisboa

Useful links

Archaeological intervention in the Belém Tower Governor's House - http://era-arqueologia.pt/projectos/18

Site of the Governor's Palace Hotel - https://www.palaciogovernador.com

Identification code​

LxR1106018