The forum of the Roman city of Conimbriga was located during the archaeological excavations that took place between 1964 and 1971, excavations carried out by a Portuguese-French team that involved the Monographic Museum of Conimbriga, the Archeology Institute of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra and the University of Bordeaux.

The excavations identified the structures of a large monument from Flavian times and, under these, the remains of buildings belonging to an earlier phase that, coinciding in the location of some elements (such as the central square), nevertheless formed a completely different architectural program. .

The survival of the forum's structures has, over time, been affected by severe problems: firstly, the abandonment to which the pagan Roman constructions were voted with the advent of Christianity; the ruin of the forum led, some centuries later, to the use of the site as a cemetery, which contributed to the degradation of the remains already partially buried; finally, after the severe destruction already caused by agricultural labors, the forum seems to have been a privileged location for the collection of construction material for modern and contemporary homes, a phenomenon intensified following the fire of neighboring Condeixa-a-Nova by the troops of the French general Massena (1805).

What we know today from the Conimbriga forum is, therefore, the result of a careful analysis of what was recovered from the building plan, the remains, in many cases sparse, its constructive and decorative apparatus, and important studies and refunds of what would be its original aspect, fruit of the theoretical reconstruction of the architectural module employed and of the comparison with other similar monuments, spread over the orb of the old Roman Empire.

The Conimbriga forum is located in the center of what was the urban space of the city, which also corresponds to a slightly higher area in the day that the city has occupied since its origin. The location of the Flavian forum was conditioned by the pre-existence of the forum built over the first half of the sec. I, which also occupied a central zone from the point of view of the circulation axes of the oppidum.

The Flavian forum was designed as a rectangular block bounded by a single wall without openings, except for the monumental entrance; bounded by four streets, its presence was undoubtedly a very strong landmark in the urban structure of the city. Through the streets surrounding the forumpass all the significant axes of the city, from its entrances to the residential areas, the circulation between the main monuments (in addition to the forum, the Amphitheater and the great Baths) was also done there. This situation led to the creation of small squares around it, where public fountains, latrines, etc. were found.