Historic Village of Monsanto

The historic village of Monsanto it is one of the 12 historical villages of Portugal (former urban centers with a foundation predating the Portuguese nation) and it is located to the northeast of the lands of the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, nestled on the slope of a steep rise, the head of Monsanto (Mons Sanctus), which erupts abruptly in the meadow and which, at its highest point, reaches 758 meters. Along the several hillsides and at the foot of the hill, there are scattered villages, allowing the population to move towards the plain.

Monsanto, it is a very old place, where the human presence it is registered since the Paleolithic period. Also, archaeological remains, testify the presence of a Lusitanian fort and Roman occupation in the designated field of São Lourenço, at the foot of the hill. Traces of Visigothic and Arab permanence were also found in the region.

The city was conquered by the King D. Afonso Henriques to the Moors and in 1165, it was donated to the Order of the Templars, which under the orders of D. Gualdim Pais, had its castle built. In 1174, the same King, granted his first Provincial, confirmed by his successors D. Sancho I (1190) and D. Afonso II (1217). To D. Sancho I, it is also due the repopulation and rebuilding of the fortress, dismantled in the struggles against the Kingdom of Leon, again repaired a century later by the Order of the Templars.

In 1308, D. Dinis, granted to Monsanto, Letter of Fair, to realize next to the hermitage of São Pedro de Vir de la Corça. In 1510, El-King D. Manuel I, granted him New Foral and granted the category of village. In the middle of the century. XVII, D. Luís de Haro, minister of King Philip IV of Spain, Portugal and Algarves, tries to siege Monsanto, but without success. Later, in the beginning of Century XVIII, in the context of War of the Spanish Succession, the British, Duke of Berwick, also made a siege to Monsanto, nevertheless, the Portuguese army, commanded by the Marquis of Minas, defeated the invader in the buttresses of the Steep rise.

Monsanto has been a county seat since 1171, condition that maintained until the year of 1853. In the 19th century, Monsanto’s imposing medieval Castle was partially destroyed due to an accidental explosion in the local ammunition depot.

Nowadays, in the Village, it is possible to visit places of interest such as the remains of the Castle on the steep slope where it is possible to observe the fortress, the waist of walls and the watchtowers, as well as the beautiful ruins of the Chapel Of São Miguel, from the XII century and the Chapel of Santa Maria do Castelo.

There is also the Chapel of Saint Peter of Vir-à-Corça or Ver-a-Corça, classified as a Property of Public Interest, located at the base of the hill on the outskirts of the village, between the places of Eugénia and Carroqueiro, being a temple Romanesque style built in granite, probably dated from the century XIII, in which, it highligts a rosacea. Around him, it was realized an authorized Fair by the King D. Dinis, in 1308.

It is also located in the parish of Monsanto, the Roman Archaeological Station of São Lourenço, also classified as Property of Public Interest and presumably corresponds to a Roman villa that includes a thermal complex. Four granite Roman tombs are also known in the region. Near the place of the ruins, there is also a section of pavement.

The Portuguese historic Villages Program was established by the Portuguese Government in 1991, being that since then, several villages have been restored, including Monsanto, in the area of Beira Interior (part of old Beira Alta and Beira Baixa).

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