Domus do Mitreo, Lugo, Spain - SpottingHistory.com

The University Museum A Domus do Mitreo is a museum center built on the old site of the Pazo de Montenegro and annexed buildings, next to the Roman walls of Lugo. The Museum is called Domus do Mitreo because when archaeological surveys were carried out, prior to the construction of the new building, the remains of a domus appeared. This domus, during the Lower Roman Empire, was partially reformed to build a private building intended for use as a Mithraeum. The historical importance of the archaeological remains discovered led to revise the architectural project initially planned to preserve and incorporate them into the new building.

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User Reviews

Julia O (11 months ago)
Small but well presented.

Emma Bellerby (2 years ago)
This was a very interesting museum, but the best part was the museum staff - their English was extrememely good, they were eager to share with us about the collection, they put on an English video just for us and were generally helpful and friendly. If you are a student, pensioner or a teacher then you get discounted tickets but you need ID. I would definitely recommend this.

Rubén Tojeiro (2 years ago)
A good first stop to get the background of Lugo, it's historical significance and the building of the Roman Wall.

maria brancato (2 years ago)
The lower level Roman remains was interesting to see. Lots of interactive screen on different facts about the villa and temple. The more modern exhibition was not as accessible as there was no English translations.

Diego P. Ramallo (2 years ago)
A very good site explaining you the history of that specific space opposite to the city's cathedral. From a Roman house following the recommendations of Vitruvius that added a sanctuary to the eastern deity Mitra, to being demolished in order to build Lugo's famous Roman defensive walls. To a medieval graveyard and an aristocratic baroque residence.

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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