Montinho das Laranjeiras

An important archaeological site on the right bank of the Guadiana River, about 6 km south of Alcoutim. The Roman Villa of Montinho das Laranjeiras was founded in the 1st century BC and was continuously occupied throughout the Roman, Visigothic, and Islamic periods. Three distinct areas survive: a Roman pars fructuaria (warehouse), a Visigothic cruciform ecclesia (6th-7th centuries, inspired by the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna), and Islamic dwellings. Discovered in 1876 when floods of the Guadiana exposed the ruins, it was reopened to the public in 2005 with restored structures, informative panels, and a lookout tower.