Watercolour reconstruction of the fish-processing tanks at Cerro da Vila · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

Cerro da Vila Roman Villa and Fish Factory

Villa Cerri de Vila

Garum FactoryLusitania · Vilamoura, Algarve, PortugalBuilt 50 BCE

About

A wealthy family from nearby Ossonoba built salting tanks and a garum warehouse into this Algarve coastal estate, curing tuna blood, roe, and liver into a delicacy prized across the empire. The estate had already stood for over a century by 117 CE and would keep expanding for two more, adding mausoleums for its owners. Purple-dye production ran alongside the fish trade on the same grounds.

What happened here

Rows of stone vats sunk into the ground beside the sea, and the smell reaches a long way inland. Small fish and the guts of larger ones are layered with salt and left in the sun for weeks; the liquid that separates off is drawn away as fish sauce and the residue is sold cheaply as paste. Grades run from a luxury sauce that costs more than good wine down to the version bought by everyone else. Tunny is netted in season from lookout towers on the headland, and the fishing, salting, potting and shipping all happen within a few hundred metres. Amphorae are stamped with the maker's name. Towns built on this are rich, and they are built downwind of themselves.