So, right here on Travessa de Frei Gaspar, you’re face to face with the ancient Roman salting factory-the original headquarters of smelly business! Picture this spot between the 1st and 6th centuries: fourteen enormous stone basins-called cetárias-lined up, brimming with layers of fish and tiny crustaceans, all covered in salt. The workers were probably too used to the intense smell to mind it anymore…but passing by on a hot day, you’d find everyone walking a little faster!
Roman workers here were masters in creating garum, the legendary, pungent fish sauce. Romans loved the stuff so much that it was sprinkled on nearly everything. Think ketchup, if ketchup came with a really strong, salty whiff of ocean. The operation was so important that when the markets in the Roman Empire faded and the trade routes dried up, the factory finally shut down-proving even the greatest condiments have an expiration date.
This site lay forgotten until 1979, when a bit of modern construction accidentally discovered this time capsule. By 1982, it was officially recognized as a public treasure. Imagine all those centuries' worth of secret recipes, now shared with curious visitors like you. So, ready to swap your nose for history’s nose for business?
