Castelo Branco - Alma Nostra

Castelo Branco

This beautiful, ancient and bustling city, dominated by the remains of a Templars’ castle, is the most important of Beira Baixa. It was born to defend a strategic position between the mountains of Gardunha and the Tejo river and that location is one of the keys to the economic success of the city.

Nowadays it is a quiet and flowery town that lives mainly of the trade of cork, cheese, honey and olive oil. It is especially known since the seventeenth century for its embroidered bedspreads that girls prepare for the trousseau.

Castelo Branco is the capital of the district that includes the following counties: Belmonte, Castelo Branco, Covilhã, Fundão, Idanha-a-Nova, Oleiros, Penamacor, Proença-a-Nova, Sertã, Vila de Rei, Vila Velha de Ródão.

Crafts

With roots that trace back in time, the bedspreads from Castelo Branco have national and international fame. Embroidered with silk on linen, they were originally related to wedding ceremonies. In Monsanto we can still find people making Marafones, rag dolls who according to tradition protect homes against storms, if they are lying in their beds. In Monsanto and Idanha-a-Velha there are still those who make and sell beautiful tambourines made of leather and decorated with colorful ribbons in the corners. Also characteristic of the district are items in brass and copper, tin, lace, traditional rugs and blankets, baskets, manufacture of Christmas cribs, cork hives and weaving.

To visit

Belmonte

Paço Episcopal Garden – Castelo Branco

Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve –Penamacor and Sabugal counties

Monsanto

Idanha-a-Velha