Castelo de Vide is a small town not far from Marvão. the old quarters has been described as one of the best preserved medieval towns in Portugal. But the history goes back to pre-historic times. Several dolmens, menhirs and cromlechs have been found nearby dating back to neolithic times and early Bronze Age. One of the most famous is the Menir da Meada, which I have described in an earlier post. Like many of these towns the Romans settled there (in 44 BC), then the Vandals, then the Moors from the 7th C to the 11th C, when the Christians took over. In 1310 the castle was built and the name of the town changed from just Vide to Castelo de Vide. In the castle King Dinis negotiated to marry his future queen, Isabel of Aragon.
After the Inquisition in Spain many Jews fled from Spain to Portugal, which were more tolerant. Many Jewish people settled in Castelo de Vide. Although Portugal was relatively speaking more tolerant than Spain, the Jewish community was still contained in a special area called the Judiaria. It is still very well preserved and characterised by gothic, granite doorways and an abundance of flower baskets. You can see it in some of the photos below here.
Mikee and I walked around the town. The images is from a cloudy day around noon, so I cannot offer any dramatic sunrises or sunsets, but the character of the town with all its old houses is still worth admiring. The oldest part of the town is inside the castle itself and we felt these parts were the most fascinating.
Entering the castle’s defensive walls we took another step back in time and a couple of the images here show the Judiaria. Notice the granite archways and the abundance of flower pots.
