Sanctuary of Endovelicus

Endovelicus was an Iberian deity of health and healing, revered as an oracle and chief of their pantheon. The mainly Lusitanian tribes who worshipped him received his advice and protection, their people kept safe from harm. He was said to be a god of many faces who had visited the underworld in order to gain the power of healing; people believing that, by sleeping in the god's place of worship, he would speak to them as they slept and give them advice and knowledge of the future. Altars dating to the time of the Iberians' struggle against Rome indicate Endovelicus' central position in the resistance effort. Following the Roman subjugation of the region his cult spread to the rest of the Republic, who adopted the god into their own pantheon. His following was never stronger, however, than amongst the indigenous Lusitanian and Gallaecian peoples.