Monsanto Castle

Monsanto Castle is located near the village of the same name, which is located on a mountain southeast of Serra da Estrela. In 1165, King Afonso Henriques reconquered the village of Monsanto from the Moors and gave it to the Templars to build the castle. Eight hundred years later, the castle was actively used, and there were many hunters to conquer it, but Monsanto did not give up. This continued until the powder store accidentally exploded. The castle was slightly destroyed and in this form has survived to our time.

About one of the sieges, which Monsanto successfully withstood, there is an interesting legend. During the seven-year siege, there was almost no food left in the castle, only one cow and a bag of grain remained. The besieged understood that these crumbs would delay their death hour for a short time, and one of them thought: what if we showed the enemy that they still had enough food? The townspeople did this: the cow was fed grain to the dump and thrown on the heads of the enemy.

The enemy surprised the animal, especially its stuffed belly, and decided that it was pointless to continue the blockade, because if, after seven years of isolation in Monsanto, even cows were eaten for slaughter, then this siege would never end. The troops retreated and Monsanto was rescued.