The author analyses a drawing of the “Cava de Viriato” intercalated in
a manuscript about Viseu probably written in 1638. It’s the oldest
known drawing of “Cava de Viriato” and it shows the state it was in
over three and a half centuries ago.
He starts out by remembering a previous work that refers to Viseu in
the roman ages and seems to be the basis for all the works published
since, mainly the one by João de Pavia in 1638, object of this paper.
A meticulous analysis of the drawing is made, wall-by-wall and also
the comparison between what the “Cava de Viriato” was at the time
and the state it is in today, concluding that the degradation state was
already quite accentuated but without the urban occupation it presents
today.
