Penha Garcia Castle is believed to have been built by the Knights Templar on top of a Roman fortress that was preceded by a prehistoric hill fort. It is currently located in the town of Penha Garcia, in Idanha-a-Nova, within the district of Castelo Branco, Portugal.

However, some suggest that the building began commanded by King D. Sancho I, and that it was ordered by King D. Afonso II to the Order of Santiago in 1220. In this lines, the castle was ceded by King D. Dinis to the Knights Templar in 1300 and returned to the crown after the extinction of the crown in the 16th century.

From the 19th century onwards, this military building began a process of decay and only some fragments of the walls remain today.

The castle is linked to the legends about the kidnapping of the daughter of the Governor of Monsanto, D. Branca. The kidnapper was chased by the father of the girl, the Governor, who eventually captured him and sentenced him to die. However, he was eventually not killed and rather punished by having his arm cut off. Legend goes that he still wanders around the castle.

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Castelo de Penha Garcia

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The Castle of Monsanto (Portuguese: Castelo de Monsanto) is a medieval castle located in the civil parish of Monsanto e Idanha-a-Velha, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, Portuguese district of Castelo Branco.

History

The site was likely the location of fortified settlement during prehistory. Legend suggests that during the 2nd century a castro was taken and colonized on the hilltop of Mons Sanctus, by Roman Praetor Lucius Aemilius Paullus. The castro was destroyed and progressively settled by settlers from Idanha-a-Velha.

Between the 5th and 11th century was occupied by Visigoths and Arabs.

In order to building a defensive line and strengthen his presence in the region, D. Afonso I of Portugal donated the area to D. Gualdim Pais, Master of the Templars; a vast region, that extended to the territory of Egitânea (corresponding to Idanha-a-Velha) along the Rio Erges.

The castles of Monsanto and Idanha-a-Velha were constructed by 1171, when a foral (charter) was donated to the settlement, following the model of Ávila/Évora. During the course of litigation with the Order of the Temple in 1172, the castle was donated to the Order of Santiago ("facio cartam donationis de castello meo proprio quad dicitur Mons Sanctus"), with the condition of not nominating an unknown commander. As a result of this change, in 1174, a new foral was issued to the inhabitants of Monsanto, by D. Afonso Henriques, which was confirmed in 1190 by D. Sancho I.

A contemporary castle was constructed during the 13th century.

It was reconstructed in the 14th century, during the reigns of King D. Dinis and D. Fernando.

But, following its alignment with the Kingdom of Castile during the 1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum, the site began to fall into disorder. According to the chronicler Fernão Lopes, Monsanto was a village that had been loyal to Queen Beatrice. But, later however, Lopes listed the town among those aligned themselves with D. John by 1384. Beginning in the 1476, the area was reconstructed during the reign of King D. John I, resulting in the construction of a barbican and protection over the well, a large 15 metres (49 ft) chamber that belonged to the Castro family (later identified as providing abundant water for the site). By 1496, the Inquirição indicated 309 inhabitants.

At the beginning of the 16th century, there was a graphic survey by Duarte de Armas for his Book of Fortresses, designing the castle with two access gates (the oldest opened to the cliffs) and protected by two towers. In total there were four towers, a keep and cistern. The Torre do Pião (lookout tower) was in ruins at that time. Supported by an alcalde, the urban nucleus included the parish of São Miguel and the parish of São Salvador. In the late 16th century, there was work performed during the reign of King D. Manuel I.

By 1527, during the Numeramento (medieval census) there were 494 inhabitants.

In the second half of the 17th century, the structures were adapted to support artillery, with the construction of earthenworks, batteries and canon emplacements, as well as fortification walls for the colony. This followed the 1704 siege by Franco-Spanish forces, under the command of the Duke of Berwick, but later liberated by the Marquess of Minas. By 1758, surveys of the site indicated one of the towers in ruin. Reconstruction of the fortification walls were undertaken by order of William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe following the Spanish invasion of Portugal. Similar alterations were built in 1801, a slope was established in order to implant canons.

Major Eusébio Furtado was later responsible for the installation military garrison in 1813, resulting in major works on the castle. But, in 1815, there was an explosion of the magazine powder keg, resulting in the partial destruction of the castle. Surveys were undertaken by military engineer Maximiano José da Serra following the disaster, and military descriptions for the site were written in 1823, by Eusébio Cândido Cordeiro Pinheiro Furtado.

An 1831 collapse of a cliff resulted in the destruction of an exterior wall and a time when the Chapel of Santa Maria was in a state of ruin. Meanwhile, the Church of São Miguel continued to be open to the cult as late as 1834.

In 1853, the municipality of Monsanto was extinguished, leaving its second-order military status and militia. The 12th Infantry Regiment was stationed to the square of Monsanto in 1887.

The first work on repairing or conserving the site began in 1940, when the DGEMN Direção-Geral de Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (Directorate-General of Buildings and National Monuments) began restoration of the walls, detailed excavations on site and removal of topsoil. In the following two years, the work continued with consolidation of the walls and granite, construction and placement of masonry. Between 1957 and 1958, further work began that included further repairs to the walls, reconstruction of the towers and reinforcement of the ashlar stones.

In 1986, complementary work continued in the castle area that included repairing loose ashlars and consolidation of the pavement along the adarve in the west. Between 1988 and 1989, there was work on consolidating the walls and pavements, the adarve and accessways to the castle. Much of the archaeological artefacts extracted from Monsanto were dispersed throughout various museums, among which were the Museum Francisco Tavares Proença Júnior in Castelo Branco.

Architecture

The castle was located in an urban-rural location, in an area that marks the territory, on a hilltop that is 763 metres (2,503 ft) above sea level, situated on the right margin of the Rio Ponsul and overlooking the urban nucleus and parish of São Salvador. The site dominates the plains that extend to the Serra da Gardunha (in the west), Idanha and reservoir. Within its walls is the Chapel of Santa Maria do Castelo, the ruins of the Chapel of São João and Romanesque Church of São Miguel, vestiges of the old settlement, and several telecommunication towers. Surrounding this are several tombs and carved openings in the rock faces, an area characterized by granite outcroppings and abrupt cliff faces. In the east, is a lookout to the eastern frontier, with the south and southeast overlooking the valleys of Ponsol and Aravil, in addition to the Cerro da Cardoza. In the north is the Serra da Estrela (Portugal's tallest continental mountain range) and views of the Castle of Penamacor and Castle of Belmonte.

Fortress

The fortress consists of three walled courtyards: an outer irregular exterior wall that encircles two other lines of walls. These segments, with staircases to access the adarve, lack merlons. The enclosure includes a main door preceded by Casa do Guarda (guardhouse), a rectangular floored compartment, with arched eastern access door. In the interior, there is an archway, surmounted by an orifice for the coat-of-arms, flanked by an armillary sphere. On the right hand side is an inscription that is indecipherable. On the northern elevation are three cross-sectional bombardments, one on the northeastern angle. The main arched gate in the north covered by vaulted ceiling and false door on the south tower.

The enclosure includes four towers attached on the outer side of the walls. Two have rectangular plans and are devoid of spans, in the north; an identical tower on the east; and a square-shaped tower on the south, with access via a flight of stairs perpendicular to the adarve, presenting a straight lintel doorway in the northern elevation. Inside the enclosure is a cistern next to a cliff, presenting two full arches and absence of cover.

The walled enclosure, adjacent to the main entrance, features a rectangular outline and a full arch door inserted in the south section, that includes battery with four canon emplacements, equipped with two ramps. Inserted into the western side is an irregular oblong segment with full arched door and protrusions that integrates a square-shaped tower on the exterior. A geodetic marker is situated over this segment. From this enclosure are rocky outcroppings with grooves and rubble corresponding to the foundations of other towers and missing wall segments.

The Torre do Pião is located outside the walls, in an elevation bordering the castle, overlooking the ruins of the Church of São Miguel. A square plan, only part of the walls corresponding to the first incomplete register are visible.

Defensive structures of São Salvador include the Gates of Santo António and Espírito Santo, the so-called bulwark or battery and wall section annexed to the Chapel of Santo António and cemetery. The Gate of Santo António, faces the west, and includes a straight lintel integrating laterally three gaps, surmounted by the royal coat-of-arms and topped by small parapet. Addorsed to the gate is a square guard tower covered in stonework, with door of straight lintel in the east. The Gate of Espírito Santo is oriented in a full arch on the outside and a straight lintel on the inner side, flanked by two gaps, with an attached guard post partially covered, with door and lintel in the west, as well as cracks in the north and east. The battery over the parking area, in Largo do Baluarte, is trapezoidal, with curtain walls over the escarpment, with door and flanked by two rectangular windows in the west.

Chapels

The Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Castelo is located inside the walls, next to the battery, with longitudinal plan and comprising two juxtaposed rectangles. Its main facade (to the west) is delimited by Tuscan pilasters, torn by a hollowed arch portal with protruding stone and flanked by a small quadrangular opening and gable with cornice. The lateral elevations include doors of straight lintels, and a southern window in the body of the main chapel.

Near the chapel are three trapezoidal tombs and a group of anthropomorphic excavations in the isolated rocks. The ruins of the Chapel of São João includes a perfect arch and is isolated in the eastern flank of the castle.

Church

The ruins of the Church of São Miguel with longitudinal plant composed of two juxtaposed rectangles and absence of cover/ceiling. Its main facade is oriented to the west, and includes full arch door with four archivolts, imposing towers and capitals with zoomorphic decoration. The northern column displays a standard cubit measure, and it is decorated in cornices. Also in the northern facade are three arcosolia in a broken arch, two in the nave and one in the main chapel, with a full arch doorway with straight tympanum and a straight lintel. The cornice was decorated in spheres and geometric motifs. In the east there are gaps in the nave and chapel with simple cornice.

The unique nave temple is situated on a slope accessed by seven steps and conserves a rectangular altar, fragment of baptismal fountain (in the form of a chalice), columnar base and other fragments of granite. A triumphal arch are supported with posts decorated with armillary spheres. The bell tower is situated on a granite cliff, over two/twin arches.

Castelo de Monsanto

It was implanted in a valley and in a flat place, on the right bank of the Pônsul River that functioned almost like a natural moat, reinforcing its defence, unlike the other Beira castles built in dominant positions (high places). The urban fence of Idanha-a-Velha is considered as the only survivor of the Lower Empire.

Idanha-a-Velha's castle corresponds in reality to a tower and walled fence. The urban fence dates back to the time of the Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, having been altered in the Middle Ages, after its donation to the Order of the Knights Templars, which also built a tower with surrounding barbican, with visual contact with the Monsanto fortification. 

An example of military, Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with an urban setting, corresponding to a fortified settlement, with oval shaped walls. Currently, some sections of the urban fence no longer exist and others have been integrated into the village's constructions.


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Castelo de Idanha-a-Velha

The Castle of Penamacor (Portuguese: Castelo de Penamacor) is a medieval castle located in the civil parish of Penamacor, in the municipality of Penamacor, Portuguese district of Castelo Branco.

History

The origins of the castle date to reign of King D. Sancho I, around 1189. At that time, the castle was settled and donated to D. Gualdim Pais, Master of the Order of the Temple (Knights Templar), resulting in the establishment of a fortification on a pre-existing castro. Its construction dates from this period (or following the donation) when the fortification's courtyard was begun, similar to other Templar donations, the site had a military significance associated with a period of colonization or defense. Contemporary excavations in the Cimo da Vila area have still not affirmatively indicated its period of occupation. It was A foral (charter) was conceded to Penamacor in 1199 by King D. Sancho I, which was ratified in 1209, following the similar model of Ávila/Évora. It was likely during this period that the castle was ordered built by D. Sancho I.

The second line walls, the keep tower and urban circus was also expanded in 1300 during the reign of King D. Denis. Little remains of the early medieval castle, and those remnants that do date to the period of the early Middle Ages, during the monarchy of King D. Dinis, when the walls and significant keep tower were constructed. Meanwhile, the barbican and other elements date from the reigns of King D. Ferdinand I and King D. John I, between the late 13th century and early 14th century.

In 1379, the couto was instituted.

In the 15th century, King D. Afonso V created the countship of Penamacor, bestowing it on D. Lopo de Albuquerque.

The 1496 Inquirição (Inquiries) refers to the existence of 389 inhabitant on the site.

The principal element was the 16th century keep tower, erroneously identified as a Torre de Vigia (lookout tower) by Landeiro (1982) and systematically characterized by other authors. Constructed in the reign of King D. Manuel, the rectangular structure included an elevated entrance over the ground with staircase. It was uniformly crowned by balcony with machicolations, a military solution which was relatively rare in Portugal, influenced by interventions in this century, and designed by local master mason João de Ortega, who added two circular corbels. Drawings by Duarte de Armas between 1509-1510, represent the walls around the settlement as an irregular polygon, that accompanied the contours of the terrain. The design also included an adarve decorated with merlons in the north, and a lower curtain of ruined exterior walls. The castle was situated on the extreme east, projected to the exterior. Opposite to this, and on the outside of the walls, is an isolated rectangular tower (the lookout tower) surmounted by merlons. Addorsed to the town wall is a "U"-shaped barbican that partially includes in the south, west and north, followed by protected adarves with merlons and cruciform bombardments with cylindrical corbels with slits on the northwestern and northeastern angles.  Entrance to the structure came from the western wall, under an arched doorway. The Irregular castle plan included walls decorated with merlons to the keep tower in the southeast. This structure was marked by, as the author intonated "it was not finished at the time I saw it and was at a height of 14 varas and a half". The interior of the courtyard was filled with three oversized two-storey spaces, surrounded by patios (one with a cistern).

In the 1527 Numeramento (ecclesiastical survey) the population of the castle included 864 inhabitants.

In 1568, the Casa da Câmara building was accessible from the gate overlooking the town. It had two halls, one for sessions and another for scribes. In 1500, though, the civil registry office burned down.

By the middle of the 17th century, renovation of the defensive structures were undertaken during the context of the Portuguese Restoration Wars, being Military Governor of Beiras, Marquess of Castelo Melhor, who initiated work on the construction of six bastions.

Alterations to the residence occurred in the 18th century, that included repairs to the castle in 1719, by Manuel Pinto Vilalobos. But, in 1739, the keep tower was obliterated following an accident, when it was being used as a powder magazine. In addition to the keep, several of the buildings in the interior courtyard were damaged. This, as an infantry regiment was stationed on site.

The 1758 Memórias Paroquiais indicated that Penamacor was the possession of the King, and described the castle as including a southern tower, the palace of the "king" in the east, in addition to municipal hall and jailhouse, both accessible by the exterior wall with clock tower. Signed by the vicar Ascênsio de Carvalho, the Memórias indicated that the walls were built of simple, single stone, with six bastions and with two gates: the Carros in the east and the Santo António in the west. A later revision, signed by prior of the parish of Santa Maria, Manuel da Gama Reixa, the Penamacor castle was referred as having walls in ruins in two areas: right of the gate, provoked by a storm, and along the tower, following a violent fire, caused by an explosion. In addition, it referred to a triangular square and a niche in the archway of the gate, with a painting of Senhora do Pé da Cruz.

Further damage was evidenced in 1762.

By the 19th century, the castle had 5 bastions functioning and principal gate that was situated by the municipal palace/hall, named the Gate of Santo António, which followed the walls along the avenue, to the Gate of Monturo dos Negros. The walls followed the locality and garrison to the keep tower, the actual clock tower. From the tower, a curtain of walls extended to the old municipal hall and the Poço de El-Rei, situated a few metres from the lookout tower. From here, the walls extended to the Church São João, where the Gate of Carros was located, followed by the post of the fiscal guard, passing through the Cavaleira with vestiges of the redoubt. The walls then climbed along the Rua do Outeiro' until the Gate of Santo António that was constituted of outer neighbourhoods.

In 1834, the military garrison was removed from the castle, thus initiating a progressive destruction of the walls, whose materials were being reused for various construction projects in the municipality. An attempt to catalogue the site was initiated in 1853, by Engineer, Captain Joaquim António Dias. But, in 1867, the Gate of Santo António was demolished and the stone acquired by the municipality for 60$000 réis. A new municipal clock tower was constructed for 100$000 réis by Cesário Correia da Silva, and using a 115$325 réis bell, by José António Linhares of Ourondo (who acquired the older bell). On 30 October 1874, Baltasar Pereira da Silva requested permission to remove stone from the bastion, resulting in the extraction of 30 carts of stone and debris. Similarly, on 17 July 1886, the stone from the Gate of Monturo dos Negros (situated alongside the Jardim da República), was resold and reused for the construction of the avenue and sidewalks of the town.

At the beginning of the 20th century, descriptions of the bastions were made by Lieutenant-Colonel Júlio Rodrigues da Silva. In 1933, the cistern (or Poço d'El Rei) was filled-in by the municipality. This was a precursor to modernization of the spaces, that included in the installation the Municipal Museum in the old municipal house in 1943, under the initiative of Mário Pires Bento, municipal secretary.

On 18 May 1973, the Junta Nacional de Educação (National Junta for Education) proposed the classification of the site as a national monument. On 8 August 1973, a dispatch from the Secretary-of-State for Instruction and Culture (Portuguese: Secretário de Estado da Instrução e Cultura) indicated their interest in supporting the reclassification of the site. Archaeological excavations began in September 2003, along the perimeter of the castle by Arqueonova, under the directions of archaeologist Silvina Silvério e André Teixeira, that continued between July and September 2006, by the same team, that resulted in the discovery of various bones, skeletons and a 15th-century dish, in addition to a false doorway. On 31 October 2012, the decision was published to classify the site as a national monument (Announcement 13641/2012, Diário da República, Série 2, 211).

Architecture

The castle is situated on hilltop, at approximately 573 metres (1,880 ft) above sea level, located between the Ribeira de Ceife and the Ribeira de Taliscas, tributaries of the Pônsul River (affluent of the Tagus River) along the southern part of Cova da Beira. The castle overlooks much of the frontier of the Serra da Estrela along with the Castle of Monsanto, and includes a clock tower and municipal house, integrated into the walls of the fortress. Nearby is the Church of the Misericórdia.

The urban circus occupies an irregular, ovular track of which only a few segments of the identifiable perimeter still remain: a line without merlons between the House of the Câmara and the keep tower, and the section in the southern wall.

The Torre de Menagem (keep tower) or clock tower is addorsed to the exterior line of walls that confronts the urban circus. Its regular, rectangular plan includes embrasure, with two blind registers, and a partially-broken arch on the ground floor to the west, surmounted by a base relief image of a knight. The adarve is decorated by pentagonal merlons, integrated in the northeast by a bell/clock tower with pyramidal roof. The clock face is oriented to north. The rectangular lookout tower is three-storey's tall. The eastern facade over embrasure, that succeed the first and third registers, with the second marked by door with curved lintel, surmounted by an unintelligible inscription. The north face with high bilevel embrasure includes royal coat-of-arms, flanked by armilar spheres and framed by rectangular on the upper floor. On the western facade is a similar embrasure, on the second register and a window with straight lintel without frame on the third. The southern facade with similar embrasure, is partial addorsed over rocky outcroppings integrated into the construction, with a decorative adarve with machicolations composed of tripartite corbels.

The subsistent bastions, which are contiguous to the House of the Câmara, fall along the escarpment curtains, integrated into the canon emplacements (to the north). These are partially integrated into the clifftops, along the south face of the Convent of Santo António, where the other bastion is located. A fourth bastion, known as the Redoubt of the Cavalaria, is situated in the barracks of the Fiscal Guard (to the north), known as the Redoubt of Outeiro (located alongside the Rua do Outeiro, to the west).

The House of the Câmara is integrated into the urban circus, erected over the Gate of the Vila near the town pillory. This building is two-storey rectangular plan decorated with cornices and barrels with tiled roof. The northern facade is marked by an arched wall door surmounted by two windows decorated and framed by stone friezes. The coat-of-arms of Penamacor, armillary spheres and Portuguese shield with the date "1568". The rear facade is broken by a wall doorway with double arch and staircase to the upper areas, which includes door and rectangular window and lintel, flanked by the municipal coat-of-arms and an identical window opposite it.

Castle of Penamacor

O Castelo de Segura ou Fortaleza de Segura localiza-se na freguesia e povoação de Segura, concelho de Idanha-a-Nova, distrito de Castelo Branco, em Portugal, na margem direita do rio Erges.

História

Antecedentes

As origens da fortificação raiana de Segura são obscuras, a povoação apenas sendo mencionada nos primeiros anos da monarquia portuguesa. Entretanto, a sua posse definitiva, pela Coroa de Portugal, só se efetivou em 1282.

O castelo medieval

A primeira referência sobre o castelo data do reinado de D. Dinis (1279-1325), quando, em 20 de Agosto de 1299, o soberano isentou os seus moradores dos impostos tradicionalmente pagos em Salvaterra do Extremo, com a condição de estes construírem um castelo. Vinte anos mais tarde, o monarca doou os domínios da vila e seu castelo à Ordem de Cristo, que aqui instituiu uma comenda, prova de que, nesta fase, Segura já se constituía em um expressivo centro regional.

Sob o reinado de D. Fernando (1367-1383), o soberano doou os domínios da vila e seu castelo ao Frei Nuno Martins (1376). Nesse período iniciou-se a edificação de uma barbacã, defesa que se articulava com um fosso.

Posteriormente, sob D. Manuel I (1495-1521), encontra-se figurado por Duarte de Armas (Livro das Fortalezas, c. 1509). A povoação foi elevada a vila e sede de concelho em 1510, posição que desfrutou até 1836, quando foi anexada ao município de Salvaterra do Extremo.

Da Guerra da Restauração aos nossos dias

No contexto da Guerra da Restauração da independência a povoação e sua fortificação readquiriram importância estratégica sobre a fronteira da Beira Baixa. Por essa razão, as suas defesas foram reformuladas, sendo a vila dotada de uma muralha envolvente, abaluartada.

Essa defesa foi insuficiente para deter a invasão francesa, que por essa fronteira penetrou durante a Guerra Peninsular, em 1807. Posteriormente, em 1846, foi extinto o seu governo militar, o que conduziu ao desmantelamento das defesas, absorvidas desde então pelo progresso urbano.

No início do século XX, foi erguida a Torre do Relógio, hoje referido como uma lembrança do passado militar de Segura, embora sem conexão com o mesmo. Os remanescentes do conjunto defensivo encontram-se classificados como Imóvel de Interesse Público por Decreto publicado em 8 de Maio de 1959.

Características

O que conhecemos do antigo castelo em estilo gótico chegou-nos através da pena de Duarte de Armas, onde pode ser identificada a sua configuração medieval: de planta oval, protegido por duas cercas, fosso e barbacã, as suas muralhas eram reforçadas por, pelo menos, seis torres. Uma sólida torre de menagem erguia-se, adossada ao perímetro interno de muralhas, dividida internamente em dois pavimentos. Por ela sabemos que essa torre de menagem sofreu significativas alterações ao longo dos séculos, bem como podemos avaliar a extensão dos troços de muralhas hoje desaparecidos.

À época, a povoação não possuía cerca e desenvolvia-se em plano inferior, na encosta a Leste do castelo. Estava organizada em torno de um eixo definido pela rua Direita, articulando as chamadas Porta de Baixo e Porta de Cima, de configuração moderna, em arco abatido.

Com relação à muralha abaluartada seiscentista, chegaram-nos três baluartes associados à primitiva barbacã. Estes apresentavam guaritas nos vértices.