Villages on the Border

On our long driving day to Spain, we stopped for a tour of Monsaraz (Portugal), a 13th century village, home to just 33 people now. Most of the residents left in the 1960s and 70s to get jobs and later because of the hardships under the dictator Salazar (for example, we were told that 60% of the people in the country had no electricity).

We braved chill winds and some rain to walk through the village to the former town hall and courthouse, now the “Museo do Fresco.” During some renovations in the 1950s, when a wall was removed, the workers discovered behind it a fresco dating to 1340 about corruption—depicting “good and bad government.” It seems they needed a constant reminder there in the hall of justice!

We couldn’t take photos, but we include an image from a brochure. It shows a two-faced judge (#8) taking bribes—gold from one man (#10) and partridges from another (#11). In contrast is the “good judge,” dressed in white.

From the hilltop village we could look out over the largest reservoir in Western Europe (97 sq mi). The Alqueva Dam was completed in 2002, and required the removal of people from many small villages in the soon-to-be flooded Guadiana River valley. One village was removed to higher ground and put back together exactly as it had been in the 13th century. It may be Spain’s newest town.Read more