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 Historical villages

 Almeida

Estrela de Pedra

There aren’t just stone houses from the most remotes ages… The strong and magnanimous Estrela de Pedra resists to time and to those who stayed after the successive invasions. Nowadays, near the walls, there are flowers and gardens. The houses sleep behind the tall village walls, as if they were protected.
When it is seen by plane, Almeida (the way it is known by its inhabitants), has the shape of a star, powerful in its surroundings that has protected in its ancient people.
Today the traditions are the one that must be protected in this historical and beautiful place.
In the paved streets, you can see and scent the aroma that comes from every kitchen, see the old houses with coat of arms and ear the legends from the ancient population.
Idanha-a-Velha is 15Km far from Idanha-a-Nova village, 12Km from Monsanto and 31Km far from Termas de Monfortinho.

Castelo Mendo

You can get there by a narrow and tight curves road. At the arrival, you can see the medieval fortress, surrounded by green hills and fertile valleys. When you get inside, you’ll enter in an ancient world: the houses are made of stone with porches from the poor people, houses that nowadays have another life.
The village doesn’t care about the progress and it lives in its own loneliness between mute streets and empty houses. However this isolation makes of Castelo Mendo a lost paradise in the mountain.
You can spend here a fine afternoon, tasting a good and delicious goat cheese and bread, all made by the traditional ways.
Enjoy yourself in the Church atrium, see an extraordinary sightseeing and let yourself go in this village enchants, you will, surely, miss this place...
Located in the southwest wing from the Almeida district, which is 19KM far from the village. Castelo Mendo medieval village is implanted on a granite massif, at 756mt of altitude. Almost inaccessible from the east, south and west sides, this village has a wild and cut out sightseeing. 

Castelo Novo

Gardunha’s bridge

It’s a village where you can enjoy the freshness from Alardo’s water and Gardunha’s healthy air. In the ancient Paços do Concelho fountain you can even refresh your soul.
Enjoy the village and don’t forget to see the cleaned houses made of stone and decorated with geraniums in the windowsills; its here where the typical blankets and the articulated dummies are made.
You will not want to leave…
Located in Beira Baixa, Castelo Novo is halfway in the east slope of Serra da Gardunha, at 703mt of altitude, between two creeks.

Castelo Rodrigo

Mysterious ruins

This village has fought the royal wars, it has survived, and nowadays it struggles to keep its architectonic beauty, even in ruins. In the top of its walls it has a magnificent view that goes from Serra da Estrela till Spain. Its greatest charm is the people that welcome us. Every stonewall that divides the fields shows us security and a joyful sensation, because it’s everything in its rightful place. Everyone who visits this village fells like a Feudal Lord, even if it is for one day.

Idanha-a-Velha

The faith War                                                                       

Village or book? Idanha has stories about battles and warriors that have fought in them. Those who still live here try to make the village a wanted place to visit. Every house are original. The Sé and Ruinas are kept as delicate jewels, being the target of every care and protection needed.The Roman heritage, the bridge over the Ponsul river, and Torre de Menagem dos Templários are some of the attractive elements that Idanha has to offer.

Linhares

Between heaven and earth

The village is beautiful, and every corner has its story. Going along the village is like going through a book of memories. However, it’s when it is seen from heaven that it has its greatness. The aerial sightseeing show us the village outlines, the surrounding fileds, the colours and the touching silence. Linhares is a land of tradition that produces cheese, rye bread, it has flocks and a strong subsistence agricultural component.
Its Castle has two towers that remember us the fights with the enemy in the medieval times. Linhares is at 810mt of altitude, in one of the foothill of Serra da Estrela, in the celorico da Beira district, 4Km far from Estrada Nacional 17, which connects Coimbra to Guarda.

Monsanto

The rock’s strength

It is located in the slope form the Serra and there great rocks have rise. Once again the geraniums give their colour to the granite houses. From the exodus only the older people have escaped, and these are the ones that give a certain enchant to this place. Walking through the streets we can see stone dorrs and wooden windows painted with white.
Monsanto is 25Km far from Idanha-a-Nova. The Access to this village is made by the Estrada Nacional 239 and by the Estrada Municipal 567.

Sortelha

Stone Ring

Inside its ancient walls, there are stone houses carefully recovered. In each corner you can ear stories about the rural legends.Its streets are narrow and go up through the hills that grow around the village. From the walls it can be seen cultivated fields and the houses from the neighbour villages. Sortelha’s story is very plotted, but its mysteries or the ladies that make baskets to kill the loneliness, can hook us to this village.

Marialva

Marialva is one of the historical villages from our country and it rests a few minutes away from Mêda. This village, one of the live relics from the ancient times, leads us to the deepest roots from our history.
When we enter in Marialva, we got the feeling that we are in a historical scenery, ready to make a medieval movie. The streets, sided by buildings resistant to time, lead us to the citadel surrounded by walls, in whose ruins we lost the notion of time. In its interior it can be enhanced the Square, where it has the Pelourinho and the building from the Old City Hall, also court and prison (17th century); there is also the Torre de Menagem and the Igreja de Santiago.

Piodão

Piodão is without any doubt one of the most beautiful villages of Portugal. Classified as public interest since 1978, it has beneficed from some protection. Only since its integration in the project of Portugal Historical Villages, Piodão saw its urbanity set kept.
The village has a shape and a typical disposal of a mountain village.
Sheltered from the dominant winds, the houses go up the hill. The construction materials are those that the land offers them: slate and wood. The walls have two layers, an exterior with bigger rocks and an interior with smaller rocks. The roofs have one or two angles, and some even have four angles of medium inclination. The blue colour that paints the doors and windows is still another mystery to resolve, but the most known reason is due to the village’s isolation and with the arrival of a can of blue paint. Without another choice, the colour blue was implanted, and it is actually an integrant part of the architectonic set form the Piodão village.

 

 

 

 

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