Ossonoba (Faro) was one of the main ports of the Roman province of Lusitania . The city developed benefitting from an intense marine traffic and marine resources. It had a pre-roman occupation but only during the Roman period did it become one of the most important cities in the Algarve. Roman vestiges are frequent in the city's subsoil and can be partly visited in the municipal museum. The mosaic representing the Ocean God surrounded by four winds is one of Ossonoba 's pieces which can be seen at the museum.

 

 

The Ocean Mosaic is the only well-known figurative mosaic of Ossonoba /Faro consisting of a three line inscription, a carpet with geometric decoration and centered panel representing the head of the Ocean. The little data collected during the archaeological excavation which led to the accidental discovery of the mosaic and the proceeding iconographic and stylistic study suggest a late second century and early third century BC dating.