Castle of Ródão

The Castle of Ródão (Portuguese: Castelo de Ródão) is a medieval castle located in the civil parish of Vila Velha de Ródão, in the municipality of Vila Velha de Ródão, Portuguese Castelo Branco. History Legend suggests that Visigoth Wamba (672-680) erected a castle on this site sometime during the 7th century, but archaeological excavations don't confirm this perspective. The construction of the current structure and watchtower was erected between 11th and 12th century, likely over the pre-existing castro by the initiative of the Knights Templar: the tower erected could have been either a watchtower or keep tower. In 1199, the Herdade da Açafa was donated by King D. Sancho to the Templars. By 1505, circling walls had already been greatly destroyed. By the middle of the 18th century, the castle was used as an artillery spot for the protection of the Tagus passage. The battlements and artillery posts were constructed on the flank overlooking the Tagus, in the area referred to as Batarias. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was reconstructed, during the preparation for the first French invasion of the peninsula, during the Napoleonic Wars, through the initiative of the Marques de Alorna. In August 1999, the municipal council of Castel Branco, IPPAR and IPA determined to recuperat the Castle of King Vamba and its surrounding area, including walls. Between 2000 and 2001, the municipal council and the Associação de Altos Estudos do Tejo (Tagus Higher Studies Association) undertook archeological surveys in the castle, under the direction of Dr. Fernando Branco (from the University of Évora). By June 2004, there was a new project by the municipal council of Vila Velha de Ródão, that included the consolidation and rehabilitation of the tower and walls, by the DREMC. In the preceding years (from 2004 to 2006) the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais ( General-Directorate for Buildings and National Monuments) began work to recuperate the tower and walls that included the construction of an interior staircase and floor in the tower, to act as viewpoint, and arrangements to the exterior. Dr. Pilar Reis accompanied and excavated the area around the tower and interior courtyard in 2006. Architecture The Castle of Ródão is situated on the extreme southern part of the Serra das Talhas (or Serra de São Miguel) on the flanks of a mountaintop comprising schist and covered in arboreal and scrub brush forest. The site overlooks the Tagus River valley, dominated by a geological feature called the Portas do Rodão, located 315 metres (1,033 ft) above sea level. The walled fortification follows an irregular, oval plan, consisting of two, partial battlements of masonry, vestiges of a built construction consisting of small granite blocks in an area dominated by a large granite stone surface. In the area outside the walls there was a discovery of various ceramic fragments. The lookout tower is implanted in the northeast, a rectangular plan, without ceiling. The southern elevation's first floor includes a large rhombus of great dimensions. The second floor includes a rounded doorway with rectangular lintel and tympanum with a sculpted cross of the Order of the Temple. On one of the undulations is the mark of the sculpture, in the form of a horizontal "S". The northern, southern and western elevations are similar with embrasures and incomplete decoration, partially destroyed. References Notes Sources Almeida, José António Ferreira de (1980), Tesouros Artísticos de Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Beja, Humberto (1922), Castelos de Portugal, os Castelos da Beira Histórica (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Costa, António Carvalho da (1706), Corographia Portugueza (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal Dinonísio, Sant'Ana (1984), Guia de Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Gomes, Rita Costa (1997), Castelos da Raia. Beira (in Portuguese), vol. I, Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Henriques, Francisco (30 April 1974), "Património Artístico Ignorado - Notável Frontal de Altar do Séc. XVII em Vila Velha de Rodão", Beira Baixa (in Portuguese), Castelo Branco, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Hormigo, José Joaquim M. (1980), Plantas de Povoações da Beira Baixa (séc. XVIII) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Hormigo, José Joaquim M. (20 August 1999), "A Beira Baixa vista por Artistas Estrangeiros ( Séc.s XVIII-XIX ), Castelo Branco (1983)", Jornal do Fundão (in Portuguese) Leal, Pinho (1873), Portugal Antigo e Moderno (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Miranda, Marisa (15 August 2004), "Zona do Castelo de Vila Velha de Ródão aguarda reabilitação", Público (in Portuguese) Monumentos (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: DGEMN, 2004 Monteiro, J. Pinho; Gomes, Mário Varela (1978), "Os Menhires da Charneca do Vale Sobral (Nisa)", Revista de Guimarães (in Portuguese), vol. LXXXVII, Guimarães, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Nunes, António Lopes Pires (1982), "Torres de Vigia da Beira Baixa", I Congresso sobre Monumentos Militares Portugueses (Vila Viçosa) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Portelinha, Ruthia (15 March 2006), "Rei Wamba com casa melhorada", Gazeta do Interior (in Portuguese) Proença Jr., Francisco Tavares (1910), Archeologia do Distrito de Castelo Branco - 1ª Contribuição para o seu Estudo (in Portuguese), Leiria, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Salvado, António (1976), Elementos para um Inventário Artístico do Distrito de Castelo Branco (in Portuguese), Castelo Branco, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Santos, Valdez (1977), "A Ocupação Francesa de Junot segundo documentos existentes no Arquivo Histórico e Militar", Boletim do Arquivo Histórico Militar (in Portuguese), vol. 36, Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Soromenho, Paulo Caratão (1965), "Lendário Rodanense", Revista de Portugal (in Portuguese), vol. XXX Veiga, Duarte (1939), "Castelos e Monumentos Militares das Beiras", Boletim da Casa das Beiras (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)