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LUGO (Town) GALICIA
Lucus Augusti (Lugo) Lugo, Spain.
Roman city of Tarraconensis, in the NW. It was founded by Augustus at the end
of the Cantabrian wars, probably as headquarters for cohorts of veterans. Among
other sources, it is referred to in Pliny (HN 3.3.28; 4.34.111), Ptolemy (2.6.24)
and often in inscriptions (CIL II, 2570ff). It was the seat of the Conventus Lucensis,
one of the three into which Gallaecia was divided. Although the present city is
built over the Roman one, the ancient plan, showing traces of a primitive encampment,
is recognizable: the cardo and decumanus, and an area of 250 by 350 m capable
of lodging five cohorts, or 2500 men. The population gradually clustered around
the camp, forming the city enclosed within the walls.
The Roman walls are the most complete and best preserved in Spain,
and some of the best in the Empire, although they have undergone several restorations
which have partially altered their original appearance. Their strong resemblance
to the walls of Aurelian in Rome seems to date them to the 3d c. A.D. Theoretically
rectangular in plan, in reality they are in an irregular ellipse because of the
terrain. The perimeter is 2130 m, the thickness 6 m, and the height 11-14 m. The
walk along the top extends the whole circuit. There are 70 semicylindrical towers.
Two of the present gates are Roman and almost intact: they consist of round arches
between two towers. All the towers were crowned with three orders of arcades enclosed
above by round arches. The construction material is slate and, on the gates, masonry.
The bridge over the Mino river dates from the period of Trajan, but
various repairs have destroyed almost all its Roman character. Of the baths there
remain only three vaulted rooms built of ashlar and brick. One of the rooms was
the apodyterium: a series of niches in the walls covered with round arches must
have been used for checking clothes. In several parts of the city there are ruins
of water tanks and conduits, made of brick masonry and rip-rap vaults and 1.5
m high. A lost inscription mentioned the existence of a temple to the goddess
Celeste, the Carthaginian Venus, which is believed to have been in the present
Plaza de Aureliano J. Pereira.
Discoveries of sculpture have been few, but there is a female head
in bad condition. Mosaic fragments from the Temple of Diana, patron goddess of
the city have been found, and many funeral tablets with reliefs and inscriptions
continue to appear in the walls. Most of the discoveries are in the Lugo Provincial
Museum.
R. Teja, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Jan 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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