A Punta Balansada

“Balsa”, in T. Nogales Basarrate, Ciudades Romanas de Hispania II. Cities of Roman Hispania II, Mérida: Museo Nacional e Arte Romano, pp. 361-372., 2022

The roman city of Balsa is mentioned in classical literary sources (Pliny, N.H., 4, 116-118; Mela, 3,7; Ptl. Geog. 2, 5,2; Marc. 2,13; It. Ant. 426, 1; Raven. 306, 10) and in the epigraphy collected in the areas of the Torre d' Aires farm and in the ancient Quinta das Antas, near Luz de Tavira, on the banks of the Ria Formosa. The site was definitively identified with this location in 1866, by the Portuguese archaeology pioneer Estácio da Veiga. Extensive excavations were carried out at the site, namely in the northern necropolis of the town. Estácio da Veiga collected there very significant and reference archaeological finds in Portuguese Roman archaeology. Only more than a century later, archaeological excavations were once again carried out at the Quinta da Torre d' Aires, where some badly preserved ruins of the ancient city were found. In parallel, the archaeological finds that were mainly deposited in the National Museum of Archaeology were gradually studied. Due to their variety and richness, Balsa became more and more a reference in national archaeology. The agricultural activities in the field and the mobilization of land inevitably led to the destruction of some parts of the city, amplifying in the media an image of a remarkable city, almost mythical, of which little was known, and which was being destroyed according to economic interests. An illusory memory of the city was built, culminating with the publication, in 2007, of the book "Balsa, Cidade Perdida" (Balsa, Lost City), which, based on very scarce archaeological evidence, reconstitutes the city of Balsa as a regional mega city 47 hectares in size. From 2019, a scientific project led by the University of Algarve is created, with the aim of demystifying the idea of a great "lost city", sometimes destroyed, sometimes hidden, and which fundamentally aimed to clarify questions about the urbanism of the city, to know its real size and topography, as well as to evaluate what the subsoil still preserved. The relevance of Balsa as well as its maritime nature is immediately demonstrated by the rich and varied remains which have been accumulating since the 19th century. If fieldwork on the land where Balsa was located has been very scarce, making the knowledge and interpretation of the site difficult, the study of its remains gives us a relatively developed idea about the commercial dynamics and daily life of this port city from the end of the 1st century BC until the 6th-7th centuries. The epigraphic data and the diversified origin of its finds reveal a population strongly connected to the Mediterranean maritime trade, while the ceramic studies show the profile of consumption and supply markets. The great development of this municipium of the Flavian period is centred between the middle of the 1st century and the 2nd century. We do not know what happened in the last third of the 2nd century, where the archaeological record reveals a catastrophic period with the collapse of many public buildings and massive destruction. In the 3rd century, there is a certain resurgence with the reconstruction of buildings which reuse materials from previous constructions, although many buildings are not rebuilt. The economic profile of the city, more than before, is very much based on the fish processing industries that occupy vast areas, including areas relatively close to the forum. From the middle of the IV century this activity loses dynamism, although the city remains with some population in the following centuries to the end of the Roman Empire. In recent years within the framework of the project led by the University of Algarve Balsa, searching the Origins of Algarve (SAICT-ALG/39581/2018), extensive non-invasive geophysical prospection works through GPR and geomagnetism were carried out. Simultaneously archaeological excavations were carried out which allowed to know the limits of the Roman city, better understand its urban structure and the degree of preservation of its remains. It is thus known that the city has a dimension that does not exceed 10 hectares, surrounded by several villae whose vestiges were in the past confused with the urban area. The forum was located at the hill nowadays occupied by the houses of the Quinta da Torre d' Aires and relatively near the port. From this civic center, the city developed mainly to the east in an extension of about 400 meters along the lagoon system of the Ria Formosa. The circus mentioned in the epigraphy was located at this limit, about 200 meters north of the lagoon system. To the west, the maximum extension was 300 meters, along the ridge line and the slope that descends into the Ria Formosa. In this western limit, a late necropolis was identified, which extends towards the main necropolis of the city, which serves as its northern limit.

Kairós, 2020

Escrever é re-escrever. Agradeço imensamente ao Alexandre Oliveira, à Eliane Carone, à Adriana Julião, ao Amit Garg, ao Eduardo Lyra, ao Luciano Tavares e à minha família pelas horas e horas que passaram revisando o livro e me dando sugestões de como melhorá-lo.

2016

Este artigo pretende mostrar a relevância do Sul no universo arquitetónico de Raúl Hestnes Ferreira. O texto é dividido em três partes, na primeira aborda-se ambiente familiar e a vertente neorrealista seguida por seu pai, José Gomes Ferreira; na segunda parte é tratado o seu percurso académico e profissional em Portugal, na Finlândia e nos Estados Unidos da América; a terceira parte corresponde ao aprofundamento do léxico arquitetónico de Raul Hestnes, e o seu confronto com a arquitetura do Sul. De modo a fundamentar os argumentos lançados no texto, são apresentadas três obras correspondentes a tempos diferentes, a Casa da Juventude de Beja (1975-1985), a Agência da Caixa Geral de Depósitos, em Avis (1985-1991) e a Biblioteca Municipal Jesus Bento Caraça, na Moita (1989-1997).

Balsa, cidade perdida; Campo Arqueológico de Tavira; Tavira, 2007

É sobejamente conhecida a importância de Tavira desde tempos imemoriais. Pelo território bordejado pelo mar e pela serra, que constitui o actual concelho, passaram diversos povos, culturas e civilizações, os quais deixaram a sua marca. Uns, mais visíveis que outros, são os fragmentos desse passado, mais ou menos longínquo, que constituem a identidade actual da cidade e do território, e que podemos ver nos edifícios, no urbanismo, e em cada canto e recanto da cidade.

Informacao Informacao, 2010

Balsa, Cidade Romana (Catálogo da Exposição). , 2024

Este artigo começa por elencar os vestígios gregos mais antigos, relacionados com a medicina greco-romana em Portugal, bem como os primeiros arqueólogos que fizeram investigações e estudaram os primeiros instrumentos médico-cirúrgicos em Portugal. Estácio da Veiga (1828-1891), em 1866, durante as escavações da cidade de Balsa na quinta de Torre d’Ares, encontrou instrumentos médico-cirúrgicos na necrópole, que, posteriormente, doou ao Museu Nacional de Arqueologia. José Leite de Vasconcellos (1858-1914) fundador do Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, foi o primeiro a estudar esses instrumentos. O artigo foca os princípios gerais da medicina greco-romana, bem como várias áreas da cirurgia e preparação de medicamentos, ilustrando características específicas em território português, através das peças de Balsa e de outras, posteriormente descobertas em outras cidades romanas, tais como Bracara Augusta.

Transcrição e revisão de texto literário, 2020

O texto foi publicado, originalmente, em formato folhetinesco, pelo periódico semanal “A folha Sabarense”, no município de Sabará (MG), entre 1° de janeiro e 19 de fevereiro de 1888. Atualmente, o periódico encontra-se integralmente digitalizado e disponibilizado pelo site do Arquivo Público Mineiro (APM). O texto encontra-se diluído em meses de informes noticiados pelo jornal, sendo, até o presente momento, não replicado em nenhum outro meio de comunicação e divulgação científica ou literária, justificando seu resgate no cenário literário brasileiro contemporâneo.

Aplicação modelo de inovação Tidd & Bessant em start up em Belo horizonte