The "most Portuguese village of Portugal" is built in the middle of giant boulders

Located in Beira Baixa, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, near the border with Spain, Monsanto is the most Portuguese village of Portugal, where the homes merge with granitic formations.

The human presence on this site dates back to the Paleolithic period and archaeological finds indicate that Monsanto was inhabited by the Romans, Visigoths and Arabs. In 1165, the Moors were defeated by d. Afonso Henriques and the place of Monsanto was donated to the Knights Templar. In 1174, received the first Charter.

Monsanto could be like any other Portuguese village, hadn't been built under large granite formations. In the early days of the village, the inhabitants did not know or had means to cut rock and as such were the houses and streets that have adapted to the site and not the other way around. Many of the houses still retain Monsanto porticos in Manueline style, dating from the late 16th century, referred to in Inhabitat.

Monsanto is a living example of how people have adapted to preserve the integrity of the site for centuries.

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