Historic Villages

We continued our tour of the Historic Villages of Portugal, a group of 12 villages/human settlements classified as important to the history of Portugal.

The first stop today was Belmonte, birthplace of Pedro Cabral, the Portuguese navigator regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first person recorded to have visited 4 continents, during his voyage of 1500.
The castle was closed today, so after a quick walk around town, we continued on to Centrum Cellas, a first century Roman tower on the outskirts of town, whose original use is still being debated.

Second Historic Village of the day was Sortelha, a beautifully restored walled city and castle. Again, most shops were closed and only a handful tourists were wandering around.

Next stop, Monsanto, awarded the title "Most Portuguese village in Portugal" in 1938. Not sure how they came to that conclusion... there's not a lot of other villages built around giant granite boulders. It's an otherworldly experience, with rocks forming the walls or roof of many of the houses, and a castle overlooking the whole town. It was also used as a filming location for Game of Thrones.

At the base of Monsanto Castle is the Necropolis of São Miguel, a Roman burial ground where the bodies were buried in human shaped carvings in the stone. The bodies and lids are long gone, but they have so far discovered 80 tombs in the area.

Our accommodation tonight is in Marvão, a city fully encircled by defensive walls, perched atop a rocky outcrop. Being only a few kilometres from Spain, it has been a defensive stronghold since the 8th Century.Read more