Po.ro.s. Museum, Portugal

Today we invite you to visit the Po.ro.s. Museum: Museu Portugal Romano in Sicó. Let’s go together?

The Po.ro.s Museum is just 3 kilometers from the Roman Ruins of Conimbriga. I recommend that you visit the Ruins first and then go to Po.ro.s., as the museum expands on the knowledge acquired in the Ruins.

It features highly interactive visual, audio and computer resources, in addition to offering an experience that encompasses all 5 senses. Early on, a Roman woman begins to lead us through the rooms, and we’re even introduced to the Roman Emperors. And then you go into a wonderful, incredible time tunnel.

There’s a space called the War Room. In it, the visitor feels like a “Roman turtle”, which is an ancient Roman war tactic: several soldiers together with their shields form a figure in the shape of a tortoise.

One of the museum’s most interesting attractions: through virtual reality technological resources, visitors can dress a Roman soldier! He chooses the breastplate, the boot, the helmet, the shield, the sword…

At Po.ro.s, there is also the Conimbriga Ruins section, with reproduction of artifacts and many explanations on the subject. Therefore, we emphasize that it’s interesting to visit the Ruins first: because at the museum, you will review the learning of the Ruins, but in a more didactic and organized way.

There’s even a section on the intimate life of the Romans – very quirky and curious! Men and women were very sexually liberal; there were no sexual prejudices. And the museum created a technological resource to simulate a “peek”: the visitor looks in a keyhole to see sexual scenes. It was very common for houses to have hand-painted mosaics and panels with scenes of people having sex in different positions.

One of the most impressive parts of the museum is the reproduction of a spa space. Amazing how the Romans and Romans took the idea “a healthy mind, a healthy body” literally. When you look at the ruins of a spa, you see a bunch of “pebbles” and say: “I don’t understand anything!” But in the museum you say: “Aaahh! So it was a spa!” So that bunch of “pebble” joins like a “lego” in the visitor’s head and starts to make perfect sense. The Roman baths had hot water, cold water, warm water, steam… And to think that this was all done 2,000 years ago with extremely advanced technology for the time!

Here ends our “visit” to the Po.ro.s Museum;. I hope you enjoyed it a lot! Of course, we couldn’t talk about everything in the museum, but we hope that we have awakened in you the desire to meet it! Also read the article on the Roman Ruins of Conimbriga and the Monographic Museum of Conimbriga, and you will have a complete triad. See you soon!

Text by: Cris Amarante & Débora Blair

Translation: Débora Blair

Photo on the top: Brazilian archeologist Cris Amarante at Po.ro.s. Museum, Portugal.