The Roman villa of Milreu (Estoi, Algarve) is located 7 kms from Faro/Ossonoba in the Roman Lusitania , south of Portugal and dates to the first and fourth centuries AC. The fourth century conserved fraction is an impressive peristyle villa with geometric and figured mosaics; in front of it remains a pagan sanctuary of 10.30 m. / height displaying Iberian unicum mosaics with marine fauna representations.  
The site has an interpretation center where one is given the opportunity to observe and study varied materials, decoration ornaments and a sixteenth roman house.

 

 

One can easily understand the villa's owner wealth by observing this parietal mosaic entrusted to the North African musivarii factory. Accordingly, the owner chose realistic manifestations of the marine world represented by various fish species.

 

 

This mosaic consists of three rows of fishes freely swimming in the sea and purposely oriented to both sides of the gallery. One can see from left to right on the north extremity of the mosaic: one dolphin, two rock-basses and another dolphin; in the central row: one calamary, one rock-bass and another calamary; phinally in the west row: one grouper (H), one rock-bass, one dolphin, another grouper and another rock-bass and among them are sea-urchins, mussels and multiple lines suggesting the sea surface as seen on the podium mosaic. All fishes move quite freely in the ocean's bottom conveying an illusion of movement.

 

 

The spa mosaic covers the stairs, bottom and walls of the swimming pool. Nonetheless only the south wall is conserved and decorated with fishes swimming towards the left wall (east) in three parallel rows. Representations vary between a rock-bass and two groupers in the superior line and one grouper and one rock-bass in the central line. In the inferior line one can perceive sea-urchins, mussels and both horizontal and vertical lines representing the water's surface.