It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Portugal and the best preserved Roman Villa in Lusitania. It knew 3 important stages of evolution in the 1st, 2nd and 4th centuries AD respectively. It is in this last phase that the palatial Villa reaches its peak with the evident complexity of structures, which make it a case apart. It was abandoned around the 5th century AD, and later partially repopulated by the friars who would create a Benedictine monastery there dedicated to Saint Cucufate (a Christian martyr) and whose occupation lasts until the mid or late 16th century. The murals that are observed inside date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.