English
The vast history of the territory of the Euro-Region Galicia and the North of Portugal has enabled the footprints of the different settlers to be still perceptible these days. It is enriching to be able to visit the prehistoric monuments of these regions, for a better understanding of how life centuries ago was.
The vast history of the territory of the Euro-Region Galicia and the North of Portugal has enabled the footprints of the different settlers to be still perceptible these days. It is enriching to be able to visit the prehistoric monuments of these regions, for a better understanding of how life centuries ago was.
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From Gallaecia to the Euro-Region<br />
Surroundings of the Castle of Monterrei (Verín, Monterrei)<br />
Castles and fortresses<br />
There are also many castles that were modified in this period, as a result of their<br />
adaptation for residential uses. The clearest example is Santa Maria da<br />
Feira. Born to secure the border at the south of the Duero against the Muslim<br />
troops in the Reconquest times, it gave rise to an important settlement at its foot,<br />
where since 1117 the celebration of the fair that gives it its name was started.<br />
With the loss of its defensive condition, it was remodelled in 1448 to adapt it<br />
to a palace, residential function, including many elements of Gothic architecture<br />
that gives it its characteristic look. It was declared National Monument in 1910.<br />
Some of these castles were born as border garrisons after the Portuguese<br />
independence, as the case of the ones in Chaves and Monterrei, adjacent to<br />
Verín, or the one of Bragança, town that got its exemption by king Sancho I in<br />
1187, and in whose citadel we can find the Homage tower, an elegant 33<br />
metres-high Gothic construction.<br />
Castle of Santa Maria da Feira (Santa Maria da Feira)<br />
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