Ruins surrounding the Santa Maria Church (Cathedral)

The ruins of important constructions uncovered by the archaeological excavations carried out between the mid-1950s and the early 1970s by Fernando de Almeida are located on the land between the Cathedral and the City Wall. The distinguished archaeologist interpreted these structures as belonging to an Episcopal Palace, built during the Suebi and Visigoth times. However, this interpretation is currently controversial, as some authors propose that the building, which gave rise to the Santa Maria Church, commonly known as the Cathedral, had a civil origin and could have itself been part of the episcopal palace. Other interpretations determine that in some of these wall alignments there exist the remains of the buildings of which the baptismal fonts were part. By the Low Middle Ages, the buildings had been buried and a cemetery was established there, in use until the end of the 19^th century.