Montalegre - Portugal

Manú visited Montalegre, a city in northern Portugal, a few weeks ago and sent me these 4 cards from there. Just a few days later, Gracinha, also sent me one of these cards, the last one. 

Edição: Câmara Municipal de Montalegre

This 1st card is showing a "chega de bois", a bulls fight. This is an important part of the cattle breeders  activity in the portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes. Of ancestral origins, these bull fights were driven in the last decades as an incentive to the creation of the Portuguese breeds, especially the Mirandesa and Barrosã breeds.

Every year, during summer, is held in Montalegre the Barrosã's breed National Bull Fight Championship and the Mirandesa's breed National Bull Fight Championship in Vinhais. 

The idea of these fights is to approach two males, which will keep their heads against each other to determine the strongest. These fights rarely imply some kind of injury to any of the animals. 

Edição: Câmara Municipal de Montalegre

A lady shepherd with her herd in Larouco mountain. 

Edição: Câmara Municipal de Montalegre

Montalegre Castle is a portuguese National Monument situated at a place inhabited by Lusitanian people, Romans, Suevi and Visigoths in ancient times. It was built between 1279-1325. Under D. Afonso IV ruling, the still existing keep was erected. This castle is about 21m high and it has a cistern covered by carved stone. 

Edição: Câmara Municipal de Montalegre

This historical structure, popularly named as “Roman Fountain”, is situated in the picturesque small village of Arcos, in Montalegre municipality. 

This is a region with quite ancient human occupancy, rich in archaeological vestiges, many of them dated from the Roman occupancy of the territory. 

The region is also characterized by its astonishing natural landscapes, rich in fresh and pure mountain water. 

Many small villages and settlements in the region have taken advantage of this precious good. In most of the places one can find fountains that for centuries have supplied the populations with the freshest waters. 

That’s the case of this granite structure, that supplied Arcos population for centuries.