Cerro da Vila, Quarteira

The Roman Ruins of Cerro da Vila are the remnants of a historical villa in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Its vestiges lie in the vicinity of the resort and marina of Vilamoura, in the civil parish of Quarteira, municipality of Loulé Municipality.
The area around Vilamoura, in which the remains of this Roman villa can be found, has been occupied with human activity for thousands of years. Graves dating back to the Bronze Age were discovered in the municipality in the Casão vineyard.
The Romans where the first to establish a settlement of any size within the locality; during the 2nd century, the region of the Algarve fell under the domain of Rome, under the rule of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14). The region was integrated into the Province of Lusitania, in reorganized into three into three civitas: Balsa (Luz de Tavira), Ossonoba (Faro) and Ciuitas, whose capital was either Cilpes (Silves) or more probably at Lacobriga (Lagos). Cerro da Vila was situated in the Ossonoba territory and had a port, serving the fertile lands irrigated by a dam two kilometres from the settlement.
Following its construction, the villa was periodically occupied by Visigoths and Arab (Moorish) forces. A group of silos from the Moorish period, in the interior of the Roman houses, support continuous occupation after the Romans.

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