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Insula of the Aqueduct
Excavation:
1934 (Dir. Prof. V. Correia).
Available documentation:
General drawing of the area of the old
excavations (1962) to the scale 1/200, with
successive corrections and improvements.
Corrections and final interpretation Virgílio H.
Correia in 1995.
Brief Description:
Insula completely dug.
Bibliography of the excavation:
Only diffused references to the works
exists. Cf. Alarcão 1992, 50 and 53; Coelho
1996, 93 and 116 - drawing 1; DGEMN 1948
fig. 17-18; Oleiro et al. 1974, 22-23.
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The well-known building as insula of the aqueduct, also designated as "inn"
(for extension of the identification did by Vergílio Correia to Southeast
of its compartment) it is one of the domestic buildings more complexes of
the city, and that the one that best justifies the attributed designation.
In the three conserved different levels, corresponding to two floors and
some basements at an intermediate quota, six different residential units
are recognized, over there would still exists other, in a superior floor
whose existence is denounced by the vestiges of a stairway, but there are
no evidences and that the plant is of difficult restitution. The insula
occupies about 850 m2 extend to 100 m² corresponding to the inner patio.
The lower floor, doesn't extend to the totality of the area of the insula,
but just the East part, a lower level, opened up to the road, preceded by
a portico. Three wide doors opened for this portico, the first door to the
South, in a corner compartment, that also opened to the South side, out
of the portico; one in the centre, in a compartment that had an oven near
the entrance; and another to North; all the these stores had enclosed compartments
and, in the case of that to the North, they had access to the criptoportic
of the insula, with a level difference whose form of acess was not preserved.
The main entrance of the insula, was made on the opposite side, through
a small door that gave access to a close compartment to the narrow tower
of distribution of the Aqueduct. These fauces, however they had the peculiarity
being not conformed as a corridor, but as a true compartment, although small,
endowed with pilasters in the front of the street and in the intern side.
This was the entrance for the inner portico of the insula, built on a criptoportic(in
three sides, being the fourth side formed by the aqueduct); under this entrance
the sewer of the portico ran, outside.
This part of the insula was inset to the street, leaving the castellum aquae
in evidence. The Southwest corner of the building was more usided to the
street, and it was open by three doors. The first (to the South) corresponded
to a great store with three divisions in array; it had a mezannine of which,
the supports of the stairways were preserved. The second was preceded by
a counter. The third corresponded to the box of the stairways, supported
by a succession of small stone walls. The upper floor of the insula would
have, therefore, independent access from the street; it is not, however,
clear if the upper rooms would be distributed in a rigorous coincidence
with the plan of the ground level, the upper plan could vary.
The central part of the insula was organized by the central peristile built
on a criptoportic that, from the street, could be reached from the referred
fauces placed to the Northwest.
From the West wing of the portico in three flights of stairs went down to
the criptoportic, that was illuminated by two large windows. The criptoportic
allowed an axial door, to the central patio, and to three compartments-
two in the empty spaces of the stairways, an another of great dimensions
under the great central oecus - in the Northeast corner an exit of water
of the aqueduct maintained in operation a latrine, encloses to an other
small room that should have been working as modest bathing room.
From the ground floor of the portico that there are no remains, it seems
to have had, in spite of the modest framing that offered the building claims
to some architectonics pretentions. The great central room can be seen as
an oecus, and the compartments to Southeast were aired by a small patio,
of which the waterproof coating and the exit of water were preserved, that,
working as a type of medianum, would improve the conditions of compartments
that otherwise risk to be not very salubrious.
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