Castelo de Arnoia
castle, chateau
927m
Braga, Braga

This Romanesque Castle, formerly located in Terra de Basto, fits in the castling movement that marked Europe between the 10th and 12th centuries and is located on top of a hill which highlights the castle with a beautiful view of the countryside from above

https://media.whitetown.sk/pictures/pt/teloarnoia/teloarnoia.jpg
Previous names
Castelo de Arnoia, Castelo de Arnoia
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Description

This Romanesque Castle, formerly located in Terra de Basto, fits in the castling movement that marked Europe between the 10th and 12th centuries and is located on top of a hill which highlights the castle with a beautiful view of the countryside from above.

History

The first edification of the caste was in the second have of the 10th century and first documented in 1064 as a fortification. During the upcoming centuries, from time to time the castle was occupied. In the middle of the 18th century, the fortification already showed some traces of ruin.

In 1946 the castle was classified as a national monument and experienced from 1960-1963 a period of restoration works inside.

Archaeological surveys were carried out inside the fortification in 2002, and an Interpretive Centre was installed in 2004.

After the integration to the Rota do Românico / Route of the Romanesque in 2010, the Castle was part of the Intervention for the conservation and protection of the inside and outside of the Castle, under the scope of the Route of the Romanesque in 2012.

Architecture and furniture

Highlighting its structure, positioned on top of a hill, are four resistive elements: the watchtower (whose rooftop and set of battlements were reconstructed in the 20th century), the quadrangular tower, a single door and the tank.

Archaeological remains relating to the occupation of the fort between the 14th and 16th centuries were identified.

The time of decay of the structure that, in peacetime, was a mere symbol of administrative power and lordly power that patronized the territory.

The abandonment occurred from 1717, when elites left the small village of Basto, moving the seat of the county to the parish of Britelo, where today, Celorico de Basto is located.

The memory of the small village of Basto persists along the branch route that originated it, and that linked the old road of Lixa to the significant route of Amarante-Arco de Baúlhe, identified as the present-day village of Castelo.

The pillory, the house of hearings and the chemists, are reminiscent of the busy street along which the village developed.

https://www.transromanica.com

Useful information

Free

Free

Great view

visitasrr@valsousa.pt

- Ruins of the castle

- Inaccessible for wheelchairs