Explorations of two unique towns perched on hilltops.
The towns of Marvão and Monsanto don’t have a ton in common, other than they are on top of steep hills, adorable, have castles, near the Portuguese/Spanish border and that I visited them on the same day. So, they do have a lot in common, except they look nothing alike. Marvão is a bright whitewashed city, while Monsanto is built of the same rock as the hillside it’s perched on.
Marvão and Monsanto aren’t that close. It’s more than a two hour drive between the two towns. One route goes through Portugal, the other goes through Spain (it has a very cool Ancient Roman bridge). I took the Portugal route, mostly because I knew I would get distracted by things I have already saw on my last trip to Spain.
Marvão
The area around Marvão have been settled since at least the Roman times (the ruined city of Ammaia is nearby on the valley floor). A castle was built on a rocky crag with fantastic views of the landscape in the 8th century. A town grew up on the same crag, Marvão.
The castle is right next to the town parking lot.
It is really a perfect place to put a castle. So glad I was able to drive up this far.
Porta de Marvão.
There are stairs leading up to the top of the walls.
Cobblestone streets are everywhere.
Why does this doorway have a face?
Adorable.
All whitewashed.
The Old Town Hall.
Love all that they left the stone visible around the windows and doors.
Buildings along the town walls.
Porta da Vila, the other town gate.
Cute little street.
Igreja de Santiago. There’s a cell tower attached to the belltower. Not a bad idea, honestly.
Getting closer to the Castle of Marvão.
There was a remodel of the castle in the 13th century. It has crusader era additions.
To get to the keep, one must wind their way around a few corners.
Don’t get distracted and end up in the cistern, which still functions.
Almost to the keep.
It’s pretty impressive, but not the keep.
Looking back toward town.
Finally, the keep.
It really is a good place to put a castle.
View of the keep from the tower.
The other direction. This castle is pretty big for Portugal.
This town does have some great doors.
Monsanto
Monsanto is another town perched high up on a hill. This one, however, is much steeper. The area has a Knights Templar connection. The castle was built by them, with later remodels. Monsanto is known for its granite buildings and for being super picturesque.
Barely out of the parking lot and already seeing cute.
Cute little gate.
So adorable.
So much cute.
There are a few whitewashed buildings scattered through town.
The street on the right is levelish. The left street was trying to give me an asthma attack.
Monsanto is literally built into the hill.
There is some natural stone on the bottom right. The hilltop was terraced to build on and they probably used the stone removed to build the houses.
Love this.
Igreja da Misericórdia and the Torre de Lucano.
Just houses built into giant boulders.
Such a neat town.
So cute. That Yorkie did not trust me.
They just fit in houses wherever they could.
Lots of boulders in this area.
Monsanto is also known for its furdas, stone enclosures used as pig pens.
Some furdas were built under boulders.
It’s a bit of a climb to get to the castle.
The castle was built right into a field of boulders. It was accidentally blown up in the 19th century, so not a lot of it remains.
Just outside the castle are the ruins of São Miguel.
There’s a building built into that giant boulder. I explore some of the area down there, but not sure. Never came across the giant boulder building.
Monsanto is a really cool and a fun place to explore.
Marvão is a gorgeous town. I loved it. Monsanto is in the my top five favorite places I visited while in Portugal. I’m so glad I took the two hour detour from to get there. However, according to my pedometer app, I climbed over 80 flights of stairs that day. Eastern Portugal is a lot of steep hills. Worth it though.
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