Built on the top of a hill at a point of great strategic significance, on the remains of earlier fortresses dating back to the Bronze Age and Roman times, Castelo Mendo is a historical village surrounded by walls that were rebuilt in the twelfth century at the orders of D. Sancho I.

In 1229, D. Sancho II ordered the castle to be enlarged and granted the local population a charter to organise a fair, on condition that this was held three times a year. This was the first fair to be held on a regular basis in the whole of Portugal, and in 1281 D. Dinis ordered that this should be a free fair to be held on an annual basis. The fair's original storehouse still exists in the village on the site of what was once the fairground.

The village's name derives from that of the first governor, D. Mendo Mendes, appointed by D. Dinis in the fourteenth century. On one of the walls of the former jailhouse, it is still possible to see a stone sculpture which, according to popular tradition, represents Mendo, whilst on another house nearby one can see a representation of Menda, who was the wife of Mendo. This house is therefore known as the Casa da Menda.

Encircled by walls with six mediaeval gates (the main gate is flanked by two statues of pigs), the village essentially consists of simple stone houses, all of which originally had two storeys, the lower one being used to house the cattle, whilst the upper one was used as a residence. The extremely narrow streets made the village easy to defend, although a number of battles were fought here during the various wars in which Portugal was involved, especially those with the Spanish.

Restoration work has recently begun in the village and it is gradually regaining some of its original features, offering those visitors who venture inside its walls the chance to enjoy a journey into its rich and interesting past.



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Castelo de Castelo Mendo

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The Castle of Castelo Bom (Portuguese: Castelo de Castelo Bom), is a medieval castle in the civil parish of Castelo Bom, municipality of the Almeida in the district of Guarda in the Centre region of Portugal.

History

Archaeological vestiges dating from the Bronze Age suggest that a castro existed on the site. Specifically, the archaeologists identified a pistiliforme sword, dating the late Bronze Age, found on the locale (but later transferred to the Museum of Guarda).

Castelo Bom was part of an area of disputed lands between Portugal and the Kingdom of León between the 12th and 13th century. During this period, Castelo Bom was in the advance guard against León, resulting in its early medieval plan. During the 12th century, it was occupied and operated by the León, but the settlement was conquered in 1282 by Portuguese King D. Dinis, who immediately ordered it structural reinforcement. The same king conceded to the region a Foral (charter) in 1296, and it was integrated in to the Kingdom of Portugal as a result of the Treaty of Alcanices.

Between the 13th and 14 century, the castle was reconstructed, along with the wall fortifications. By 1496, the formal institutional Inquirição (Inquiries), noted the existence of a population of 234.

In the 16th century, Francisco de Anzinho and Garcia Fernandes worked at the castle to refortify the installation. Designs by Duarte de Armas, in his Book of Fortresses (1509) for the castle drew the castle annexed to the southern extremity of the town walls. These drawings included the castle and barbican, both of an irregular plan. The castle was crowned by merlons and encircled by adarve, but with a western rectangular tower keep (covered in tiled roof) adorsed to a central courtyard, earthen works, a cistern, a shaded house and other dependencies. In the east, is a similar rectangular tower with "dungeon" and in the north, a rectangular tower beside the gate: both towers were in states of ruin. The barbican, with adarve, merlons and cruciform slits, included a circular tower in the south and minor rectangular tower in the north, flanked by a door (and a complimentary false door in the east). The fortifications consisted of a double line of walls with steps in the west and doors: rectangular doors to the exterior and rounded doors to the interior. The interior doors were surmounted by covered balcony with machicolations. Both lines of walls included Chemin de rondes and crowned by parallepetical and pyramidal merlons in the northeast, over a rectangular tower covered in partially-ruined pyramidal merlons facing the interior. Within the walls the urban agglomeration consisted of single-family homes overlooking a church with bell-tower in the south, while in the southwest and southeast were smaller chapels. To the south, the castle was in viewing distance of the castles of Almeida and Castelo Rodrigo.

In 1510, King D. Manuel I renewed the foral, and ordered the repair of the castle and fortifications. But, these works did not begin until 1512, under the direction of João Ortega, from Penamacor, and mason Pero Fernandes, with overseer Rui de Andrade, who was discharged by the King. The medieval Numeramento, carried out in 1527, identified a population of just under 396.

In the 17th century, the Viscount of Vila Nova de Cerveira and Marquesses of Ponte de Lima, was appointed alcalde-mor, who installed two artillery-pieces and constructed a bastion tower with vaulted space occupied by a jail. During the Restoration Wars, it was an important frontier defense and served as a shelter for the Governors of Beira, when the cisterns (the Poços de El-Re and Poços da Escada). It was mentioned in the 1758 Memórias Paroquiais.

The town and castle began its progressive decline in 1762, when the town was encircled and overrun.  J. Almeida referred to the existence of watchtower in the Cabeço da Medronheira, dating to the 18th century, but where no vestiges exist. By the second decade of the 19th century, the French invasion of the peninsula resulted in the destruction of the castle, and the revision of the administrative authority resulted in the extinction of the municipality of Castelo Bom (in 1834). The castle's defensive structures progressively fell into ruin.

By the 1950s, the keep tower remained intact, but the descendant of its original owners wanted to construct a court for donkeys (F. Keil do Amaral).

The castle was already in ruin and partially buried by 1987, when a study was elaborated by the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGMEN) in order to recuperate the urban centre and the castle architecture. Work on the site began, innocuously with the clearing of the village gate in 1940s, but proceeded to more elaborate consolidation of the cistern and the area around the resource by 1966. In order to attract more tourists to the site, a overlook was constructed in 1999 (in the north). Work to rehabilitate the facades of the historic centre were initiated at the same time, as part of the Aldeias Preservadas project, between the local government and the building's property-owners.

Architecture

The castle, implanted at the top of a 725 metres (2,379 ft) hilltop and its walled fortifications encircling the settlement. Overlooking the Rio Côa, the cliffs of its flanks are without buildings, except along the southeastern roadway. It is relatively close to the castles of Almeida and Castelo Mendo.

The irregular plan is almost rectangular, and includes a similarly irregular barbican with a curved face along the settlement wall (today incomplete), a sequence of almost continuous walls along the east and the flanks of the northwest and northeast. These final walls are missing merlons and various discontinuities, with various buildings addorsed to its walls. Some of these buildings also include stonework that could have been reused from the wall. The Town Gate consists of a curvilinear exterior and simple arch, with uneven pavement under a vaulted ceiling. On the interior wall, there is a lance of stairs providing access to the adarve and lateral rectangular tower, in ruins, on the west and north. Along the line of walls in the south, is a coat-of-arms of the ancient town, that was likely moved from its original location.

Locally referred to as the Poço do Rei (the King's Pool), the cistern in situated in the south, consisting of a rectangular plan covered by tile. It is accessible from a door, the unique opening. In the interior, the space included a vaulted ceiling structured with two archways.

The powder magazine, variously called the revelim, rebolim, rebolinho or polvorim, is circular plan in stonework and masonry, with door to the west.

Two other pools provide support to the fortified courtyard: the Poço de Escada and the Poço de El-Rei. The first is situated in the Largo do Poço da Escada, and consists of an irregular square plan in masonry and in the southeast there is a nine-step stone slab staircase to the water, with the interior walls without decoration. The Poço d'El Rei situated in the square of the same name, is also rectangular and consists of a reservoir of grande dimensions in stonework, and covered by terrace, accessible by a double-flight of frontal stairs and landing. Over the terrace are two square openings, with stone guards, acting as light source. Its interior consists of a vaulted ceiling.

Castelo de Castelo Bom

The Castle of Vilar Maior (Portuguese: Castelo de Vilar Maior) is a well-preserved medieval castle located in the civil parish of Aldeia da Ribeira, Vilar Maior e Badamalos, in the municipality of Sabugal, Guarda district, Portugal.

History

Discoveries in 1956 that included a sword, some rock art (consisting of geometric designs) and axes, in the Quinta da Formiga and in Fraga, suggest a period of occupation dating from the Neolithic, late Bronze Age and Roman period. At about this time, from similar examples, it is presumed that a pre-Roman castro existed on the site. Around 60 A.D. Romans conquered the Lusitanian castro, but reconstructed and refortified the site. Fragments from tiles, ceramics and coins, in addition to vestiges of mosaics and Roman pavement, were discovered in and around the former castro.

In 1139, the settlement was taken by Leonese troops from the Moors and a castle reconstructed on the site. It eventually began to pertain to the Order of São João do Pereiro. A 1227 Latin document referred for the first time to the Vilar Maior, a toponymy that was associated with the early small colony; "vilar", which is a diminutive of "vila" (or town) referred to the site occupied by a group of one of two families.

In 1230, the site was reconquered by Leonoses forces from Portuguese troops.[1] On 6 August 1232, a letter was issued by King D. Alfonso IV of León to encourage settlement in the region. But this was annulled by King D. Fernando II of León, who reintegrated Vilar Maior into the municipality of Sabugal. His successor was then responsible for the reconstruction of the castle in the intervening years.

Between 12th and 13th century, the location was easily defended by natural defenses, but with the advent of canons the site began to be considered vulnerable.[1] By the second half of the 13th century, a new settlement letter was issued by King D. Alfonso X of Castile. By 1280, from an inscription, the urban perimeter wall ordered constructed by Alfonso X of Castile or, at least, the line that terminated at the Rua do Arco was concluded.

In 1296, the castle was conquered by forces loyal to King D. Dinis, at the time garrisoned by Leonese D. Sancho Peres de Ledesma. A foral (charter) was conceded on 27 November 1296. The castle, or at least the keep tower, was constructed by King Dinis, with the assistance of the Knights Templar. By 12 September 1297, the territory was integrated into the Portuguese kingdom, during the sequence of the Treaty of Alcanices.

Between 1367 and 1383 there were interventions in the castle under the initiative of D. Fernando, followed-up in 1398 by King D. John I. This work on the site, ultimately, led to the creation of the couto of Vilar Maior, which had attained a population of approximately 1000 residents by 1440. By the 1496 "Inquirição" (Inquiries), Vila Maior had reached a population of 234 residents.

On 1 January 1510, the towns foral was upgraded and new interventions in the castle were undertaken by King D. Manuel I. Designs by Duarte d'Armas observed that the citadel included a double line of walls. Yet, even in this interpretation there were ruins and a line of walls that encircled the keep tower. The second line of walls, identifiable by a barbican, improved the defense and protection of the entryway. The keep tower was covered in tile and was accessible by a stone staircase that parted from the courtyard to the second level doorway. The design also included scaffolding around the tower, permitting a better line of protection around the keep and improving its protection. The scaffold protected the archers and created the conditions for vertical vollies identical to the machicolations, making the castle's defense more complex. Alongside the bridge were remains of town walls, therefore suggesting a third line of defenses. Today there are remnants of this group in the staircase near the old municipal building, along the Rua da Costa, and within the Museum of Vilar Maior; a majority of these walls were destroyed to make way for the walls of the cemetery.

On 16 May 1516, the judges of Vilar Maior and Ciudad Rodrigo were responsible for recognizing the borders between the Portugal and Spain, demarcating the frontier in their decision.

By 1527, the Cadastro do Reino (Kingdom's Cadastre), there were 60 dwellings in Vilar Maior, and a population of 422 inhabitants.

By the 17th century, the castle had no defensive importance, resulting in reconfiguration and adoptions of the bastions, in comparison to the neighbouring defenses at the Castle of Almeida and Castle of Penamacôr. 

On 27 January 1653, D. Fernando Teles de Menezes Silva, was made the Count of Vilar Maior, later Marquês of Penalva and Alegrete, and Commander of the Order of Malta.

During the events of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the castle was unaffected by the cataclysm.

During references from the 1758 Memórias Paroquiais, written by Francisco Antunes, the alcalde was identified as Joaquim José Nobre de Miranda. It was defined as encountered "encircled,  with little defense for being in ruins", had three watchtowers, also in ruins, with tile and wood and walled castle, with little water and many buildings in ruin. The two register tower was also in a pessimistic state of conservation.

In the 19th century, during French invasion of the peninsula, the settlement was invaded and pillaged.

During the 1834-1853 Liberal wars, the town was also suffered the consequences of the Liberal-Miguelist conflicts.

On 24 October 1855, the municipal status was extinguished, and the Vila Maior was integrated into the municipality of Sabugal.

By 1864, there were 160 dwellings and the population included little more than 679 inhabitants, which progressively increased in the intervening years (by 1890, there were 199 dwellings and 742 residents). By 1940, there were 267 dwellings and only 745 inhabitants.

In the 20th century, the former communal kiln/earthen stove was recuperated and transformed into a tourist post and handicrafts shop.

Architecture

The castle is located on the limit of the urban agglomeration, situated on a cliff plateau over the settlement dominated by the valley of the Rio Cesarão, protected in the east by the rocky cliffs of the river and west, by steep slopes. The city of Guarda is clearly visible from the heights of the plateau. In the relative proximity of the cemetery and the ruins of the Church of Nossa Senhora do Castelo; in the place of Correia, visitors can observe anthropomorphic tombs.

The castle is Romanesque/Gothic military structure; the structure follows an oval plan, with rectangular keep tower, three registers high, straight embrasures and broken Romanesque door accessible from the battlements. The keep tower is almost addorsed to the exterior and lacks merlons along the walls, accessible by five staircases from battlements. In the western exterior section, a wall extends to the outside wall. It has two doors: in the southeast, covered with broken barrel vault, preserving monumental hinges; and in the northwest, with broken bow on the upper surface and full arch inside, covered with a broken barrel vault and preserved stonework hinges.

There is a 35 metres (115 ft) circular cistern without covering in the interior of the courtyard.

The 35 metres (115 ft) high, rectangular keep tower without roof extends to three floors. The northern facade has straight arrow slits on each floor, and in the east, a line of embrasures is surmounted by shell with real guns framed by protruding rectangular frame, the first coming in the second, embrasure line with half-round frame and, top, embrasure line. The south facade has an embrasure along the third register and along the western line, where the first floor is almost addorsed to the wall and second floor door with broken arch. Most of the stones are inscribed with Templar abbreviations.

The interior was almost completely destroyed, and little remains of the visible structure of the floors, except for a flight of stairs in the north and east, and corbels supporting pavement. The battlements have a rounded profile, with vestiges of a third line of walls near the stairs that access the old hall, along Rua da Costa and Rua do Castelo and within the Museum of Vilar Maior. Remains of the third wall are also visible on the stairs leading to old town hall.

Commemorative inscriptions on the completion of the wall, or partial segment of the urban perimeter, are visible on the wall.

Castle of Vilar Maior

Fortress of Almeida 

Castle Fortress of Almeida

A Ponte de Sequeiros localiza-se no lugar de Sequeiros que teria dado nome à Ponte de Sequeiros , no rio côa, na freguesia de Badamalos ,  Concelho do Sabugal, distrito da Guarda, em Portugal.

Trata-se de exemplar de ponte fortificada sobre o rio Côa, que permite a travessia do rio numa vertente de grandes afloramentos graníticos, constituindo-se estes, por si próprios, numa defesa natural.

De construção provável XIII, esta ponte seria um marco de fronteira entre Castela e Leão antes da incorporação das terras do Riba-Côa no território nacional pelo Tratado de Alcanices

Houve também o lugar de Sequeiros que teria dado nome à Ponte de Sequeiros e que no século XVI tinha ainda cerca de meia dúzia de residentes e no século XVIII constava do Cadastro ainda com 3 residentes. Actualmente desapareceu e nem vestígios das casas ficaram tendo a pedra utilizada na sua construção desaparecido talvez tivesse sido utilizada para a construção de novas casas ou para construir muros de demarcação de terrenos. Os residentes deste lugar provavelmente teriam como tarefa guardar a Ponte de Sequeiros que era um importante lugar de passagem tendo servido de posto alfandegário nos tempos em que rio Côa constituía a linha de fronteira entre os Reinos de Portugal e de Leão.

Características

Em estilo românico, a ponte é sustentada por três arcos plenos, sendo o central de maior diâmetro. Em um de seus lados apresenta uma torre de planta quadrada com vão também em arco pleno. O seu pavimento é lageado com continuidade em calçada.

Ponte de Sequeiros

Pinhel Castle, the guardian of one of the oldest towns in the country, is a fine example of Portugal's unique Manueline architecture.

Surrounded by walls and rivers, and lying at the heart of a system of fortifications that included the castles of Trancoso, Marialva and Castelo Mendo, Pinhel was one of the most advanced strongholds in this part of Portugal until the 13th century.

The robust walls, with their six gates and two towers, were built in 1385. On the northern side, be sure to see the beautiful Manueline window, which illuminates a vaulted hall topped by one of the symbols of D. Manuel I’s power, the armillary sphere. During the French invasions in 1810 meanwhile, the castle and the town were occupied by General Loisson.

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Castle of Pinhel

It used to be called the ‘Castle of the Moon’ because it seemed to reach so far into the sky - come and see just why it was given this name.

Probably dating back to the 13th century and founded by King Afonso X of León, the ‘Castle of the Moon’ became part of Portugal in 1297 following the Treaty of Alcañices and had its charter renewed in 1517 by D. Manuel.

The castle played a valiant role in defending the country at the time of the French invasions. As you gaze from its walls, taking in the panoramic view of the surroundings, you get a feel for the strategic importance of the place. Meanwhile the square castle is an excellent example of Romanesque and Gothic military architecture with its citadel well protected by a double ring of walls.

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Castelo de Alfaiates

The ancient human presence in the area is attested by the proto- historical traces found inside the current castle. In the early thirteenth century, the Côa River marked the frontier between Portugal and León, so there was a concern to build castles capable of defending it.

In 1220, Pedro Alvites, Master of the Knights Templar, granted a charter to Vila do Touro. Among other things, the population had the obligation to build a castle. Of this castle, we are only able to find two curtain walls, making use of the relief between boulders. The construction was probably never finished. According to the 1290 Inquiries, the castle was destroyed by the council of Guarda, worried about the threat it could represent to the council’s domain over the area.

In 1319, Vila do Touro, following the extinction of the Knights Templar, fell under the rule of the Order of Christ and had its charter renewed in 1510 by D. Manuel.

The town belonged, from the 13th century, to the Knights Templar and later its continuation, the Order of Christ. The castle, which began being built around that time, remains unfinished, with a single entrance gate and two wall curtains that adapt to the relief of the terrain. Inside we find several game boards engraved in outcrops bearing witness to how builders or the military garrison passed their time.

From its highest area, one can enjoy a wide panorama, with the main elevations of the region coming into perfect focus: São Cornélio, Cabeço das Fráguas, Guarda, Jarmelo, Caria Talaia, Sabugal Velho, etc.

Taking a brief walk, starting at the pillory, the Direita and Pedro Alvito streets have several (16th century) Manueline windows or of the following centuries. At the end of this street, we find the chapel of Our Lady of the Market, an interesting chapel with a porch. near the path that descends from the church, we come across a game board engraved on a rock outcrop. A few meters away is the entrance to the castle.

To the west of the road, we may find an interesting house, including, in its construction, a huge granitic boulder. In addition to the main church, two other chapels are worth a visit: St. Sebastian and St. Gens, in an elevated area bordering the town. here, near the chapel, we will find ancient land plots, as well as the crosses of the old Calvary.

https://www.cm-sabugal.pt