{"id":33686,"date":"2020-09-26T09:34:31","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T08:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitboticas.pt\/?p=33686"},"modified":"2025-01-25T12:45:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T12:45:49","slug":"minas-do-poco-das-freitas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terracallaeci.pt\/en\/2020\/09\/minas-do-poco-das-freitas\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman mines of Po\u00e7o das Freitas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Located between the Calv\u00e3o and Vidoeiro streams, the so-called Po\u00e7o das Freitas is one of the most significant examples of ancient mining activity in the Terva Valley. The extraction zone covers an area that extends in a north\/south direction for around 1,000 metres and around 700 metres in an east\/west direction. The open excavation areas are clearly visible, with numerous cuts and trenches, cut by underground galleries and vertical shafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Galleries mouths. Photo TR\/TC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside some of the galleries you can still see the negatives of the shoring, in the form of tears and needles, as well as some niches for Roman lamps, the lucernas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is believed that the lagoon may be the result of a Roman dam.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The lagoon that gives the site its name, the Po\u00e7o das Freitas, is configured as an embalse and may have corresponded to a saepti<\/em> (Roman dam), fundamental in the mining process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Po\u00e7o das Freitas lagoon. Photo TR\/TC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the intense exploitation of the Roman period, the area has seen recurrent exploitation, but it has been small-scale and episodic, with the last one being documented at the beginning of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location<\/h2>\n\n\n\n