O Circo Romano de Olisipo (Lisboa Romana) | The Roman Circus of Olisipo (Roman Lisbon)

Lisbon is a very old city that integrates or hides traces of several eras. The low Pombalina was built on successive layers of land, rubble and other remains that cover the old city of Lisbon. We rarely see it, but it is here, under our feet, being revealed by archeology. Russia keeps in its elongated form the memory of one of the most emblematic and monumental buildings in the city of Lisbon, the Circo. The discovery took place during the construction of the subway, when part of the spine was detected, the central structure of the vast arena, whose surface would be six meters deep from the ground we step on today. In this Circo, public shows were held, intended for the entire population, often associated with festive moments, as would be the case with the Emperor's birthday. In the grandstand, the representatives of Rome gave the indication of the beginning of the shows, which lasted throughout the day. Races of cars pulled by horses, gladiator fights, hunting animals or human executions by beasts thrown into the arena. In the prisons, the doors were barely opened, which quickly broke the horses. Crowds filled this Circo, living intensely the shows that stood out the races of cranes or quads, cars pulled by two or four horses. The races were exhilarating and dangerous during the seven laps on the track. The speed was mind-blowing and at the end of the duels, accidents were often fatal for the drivers. It is not known how many thousands of spectators could fill these stands, but surely it was here that important events of the social, religious and leisure life of Olissipo took place, making these shows political instruments of spreading the imperial ideology. Built almost 2,000 years ago, where today is located Rossio de Lisboa, there are buried vestiges of it that the archaeology will be in charge of revealing in greater detail. With this emblematic monument, the city claimed to be one of the most important in the western part of the Roman Empire. This was a space of social cohesion of the community that inhabited this territory that would later become Lisbon.