Citânia de Briteiros

The Citânia de Briteiros is an archaeological site of the Castro culture located in the Portuguese civil parish of Briteiros São Salvador e Briteiros Santa Leocádia in the municipality of Guimarães; important for its size, "urban" form and developed architecture, it is one of the more excavated sites in northwestern Iberian Peninsula [1]. Although primarily known as the remains of an Iron Age proto-urban hill fort, the excavations at the site have revealed evidence of sequential settlement, extending from the Bronze to Middle Ages [1]. The majority of the ruins visible today have been dated from the second Iron Age, especially the last two centuries BCE [1]. The site is situated on a small promontory called Monte de São Romão between the civil parishes of Salvador de Briteiros and Donim, about 15 kilometres northwest of Guimarães [1]. The visible ruins of the walled village or hill fort include a plan of great dimensions with four lines of walls and approximately oval shape [1].