Tuesday, 01 March 2011 00:00
Every year the ancient village of Monsanto host the venerable on early May.
One of the most symbolic traditions of Monsanto is the Festival of the Holy Cross, held in May, to commemorate the resistance to a long history of sieges: the women carry to the top of the castle typical rag-dolls (known as "marafonas") and clay jars, full of flowers, are thrown from the walls. The festival dates back to 2nd century BC when Roman troops had the population of the village besieged in the castle for six years. Out of food, the population tossed the last of its supplies from the walls to show the Roman’s that they had plenty more, or to tried to fool them into thinking that was the case- and it worked!
In 1938 Monsanto was voted the "most Portuguese village in Portugal" nestled on the slope of a steep hill (the Monsanto head, known in Latin as Mons Sanctus), which rises abruptly above the plains and reaches a height of 2486 feet. Nothing is typical about Monsanto a village built around impressively big and balanced granite boulders.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010 15:30
Lisbon will kick off the holiday season with
series of concerts from the celebrated December 5-19 in some monumental settings. celebrate the coming of winter - the cyclical nature of return - with light. The schedule of concerts for the holidays 2010 is below. Bach, Handel, Telemann and Tchaikovsky are among the composers whose music will resonate throughout the city,
Read more: Holidays in Lisbon: Monumental concerts
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 00:00
The Northern city of Guimarães, the cradle of the Portuguese nation, is to be the
European Capital of Culture in
2012. European Capital of Culture
is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it showcases its cultural life and cultural development. Guimarães presented the vision for the city's development.
Saturday, 09 October 2010 00:00
Arte Lisboa, an important national exhibition of contemporary art, will run at at Parque das Nações from 24 to 28 November, 2010. Now in its tenth year, Arte Lisboa will feature 45 national and international galleries of modern and contemporary art, along with magazines and specialist publications. Arte Lisboa will be held at the Lisboa Conventions Centre in the Pavilhão do Rio, a building designed by architect Keil do Amaral. The qualities of this location provide an environment for displays of works of art from the best galleries. collectors, critics and other industry players .
Thursday, 07 October 2010 00:00
A large Roman building was discovered by archaeologists from the University of Minho (UM) during a survey in Vieira do Minho. The finding is a unique example of Roman ruins in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and they will continue to be studied. The Board of Vieira do Minho is preparing a draft museum plan for the site. The ruins were discovered in a field in Cantelães, near the Castro de Vila Seca, a village of pre-Roman origin, where they recently discovered traces of fortifications from the Roman period and Middle Ages. The excavations ended about a week ago and the researchers are still evaluating the data collected in these surveys. The site may have been a small village or a mansio, a large inn that was commonly found on the sides of Roman roads – in this case the Roman highway, linking Braga to Astorga. The only certainty is that it is a large building, which extends over an area of several hundred meters. In addition, the traces of pottery and glass that were found possibly date the site back to the first century AD and early second century. The Town of Vieira do Minho is evaluating the development of a draft plan for the site to see if the size of the finding justifies the creation of an archaeological park in that area of the county.
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Portugal National Tourist Office