What to see
12 tesouros emblemáticos repletos de história e património; paisagens surpreendentes, que despertam os sentidos e conquistam os visitantes.
Templar Tower
Idanha-a-Velha
The Knights Templar reduced the defences to a small castle and the donjon is the only trace left. It was built in the mid-13th century, as shown by the inscription 1245 on a door on the second floor. People entered by this door after climbing a movable staircase resting on a block on the floor, which can still be seen. Later, a door was cut into the first floor, protected by the balcony. All that is left are the brackets on the third floor. The tower was built on the podium of the main temple in the Forum of the Roman town. A raised rectangular platform was installed to set up the forum surrounded by strong walls to keep in the earth. The temple was located in the western part of the square and seems to have been dedicated to Jupiter. Venus and Mars were also worshipped in small temples. The foundations of a portico are visible at the back. At the eastern end, there are small side access stairways and weak remains of the platform in front of the temple, where there was perhaps a large staircase.
Threshing floor
Piódão
The exterior: There is a community threshing floor at the top of the village. In small, isolated villages, the inhabitants worked as a community, as a way of using infrastructure (irrigation systems, oven, threshing floor) or places (common land). This was essential to their survival. This area was used to dry and thresh grain (e.g. rye) and legumes (e.g. beans). We can see carvings on the stones, such as dents and drawings, many of them representing individual or pairs of soles of feet. We can presume that they were connected to good luck charms for crops or preservation of products.
Tourist office / Casa dos Judeus
Marialva
This building’s style in undeniably Jewish, which attests to the existence of Jews in this village. The ground-floor windows, once doors, led to the shop and the first floor. The window on the first floor has a New Christian cross. Two of the windows, one on the first floor and the other on the ground floor are finely decorated, a sign of the wealth of the building’s owners.