Trancoso

The Medieval atmosphere of the town of Trancoso is felt in its narrow streets flanked by chamfered gates and walls with brackets from which vases with flowers often hang.

Trancoso once had a large Jewish population and the houses of the old Judiaria still exhibit the two characteristic doors: a broad one for commerce and a narrow one for domestic use.

The town was given as a wedding gift by king Dinis to his bride, Isabel, in 1283, and it was also this monarch who built the impressive walls that encircle it.

It is worth visiting the Castle, with five solid turrets and keep, the pillory and the church of Nossa Senhora da Fresta.

At about 24 kilometres (15 miles) from Trancoso, the ancient village of Marialva (probably founded in the 11th century), now unfortunately in ruins and abandoned, had a glorious past and its lost grandeur can be guessed by the granite walls, a 15th-century pillory and fragments of stone carvings.

Another historical village, Moreira de Rei, exhibits a fine pillory, the ruins of an ancient castle and a Roman church with graves dug in the rock.

It is specially worth visiting the county in August, when the famous Fair of Trancoso attracts crowds from the neighbouring counties of this region of the Beira Alta, and you can perhaps taste a local gastronomical speciality, roast kid.

Isabel Joyce

From Google