Beira '24 – Belmonte Revisit

Belmonte (pop 6,204 in 2021) is a remote town full of cultural attractions. There's a Belmonte blog post from 2021 but not from 2023 – this is our first revisit. We buy bundled tickets that allow admission to all the sites for a combined price.

We start our re-visit at the Castelo de Belmonte (13th century) and are reminded by the flags of Portugal and Brazil above the torre de menagem, this is the hometown of Pedro Álvares Cabral.

A large group of young grade-schoolers joins us in the yard, loud and energetic. As we make the turn under the arches of the old barbican, the flag of the town snaps in the stiff breeze near the risen moon.

A large room is now open on the lower level with a gallery exhibiting blocks covered with the old marcas de canteiro (masons' marks). For sure, this is an extraordinary and historic castelo, but seeing the marcas always seems to ground the experience and connect the place with the people who built it – signs from the people of Belmonte, carved eight hundred years ago.

A história deste castelo foi recorda da com gratidão pelos Portugueses de 1940

[The history of this castle was remembered with gratitude by the Portuguese of 1940]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Igreja de Santiago (13th century), its torre sineira, and the Panteão de Cabrais (tombs of the Cabrals, 15th century) are just down the hill. 'Cabra' is Portuguese for 'goat'; the brasão de família (family crest) of the Cabrals is, therefore, a shield with two goats, and shows up throughout the Igreja.

We take a second look at the frescos (16th century) near the chancel and now recognize some details. We now know Santa Luzia is the female martyr identified by a plate holding her eyes, and the figure on the right is São João Batista in his camel-skin robe.

This is such a compelling and well-kept church, and worth a revisit. 

 

 

However, we are unfamiliar with the history of Jews in Belmonte; during our last visit the Museu Judaico (2005) was closed for lunch. We take special pains today to time or visit with the Museu's schedule. New signage and markers give guidance. A local group called the Aldeias Históricas de Portugal have been busy and have a new office nearby (we saw their directional hiking signs in Alfaiates as well).

The Museu is inside a long, but plain-looking stone block. The interior is strikingly modern, with bright lines of LED lights forming the Star of David, folded onto the walls, floors, and ceilings.

The Museu's story is wrapped around the work of Samuel Schwartz, who during World War I, uncovered the history of a Jewish population 'hidden' on the slopes below the Castelo – diaspora who fled Spain during the Inquisition in the late fifteenth century.

The exhibits include many fascinating old artifacts and images. Particularly touching is the story of Lea Azancot e Capitão Barros Basto, a Portuguese military office and his wife who helped establish the Jewish community in Porto.

 

After lunch, the Museu dos Descobrimentos (2009) offers an experiential display of artifacts, maps, and other interactive exhibits. In the ticket lobby is a marker with a brasão de família (crest) combining the Cabral, Castro, and Coutinho families. Checking the museum label, we see that Isabel de Castro was Pedro Álvares Cabral's wife.

The first large wall map (1600) confuses us, till we realize the orientation advantages Portugal – it's the on top of the world, the names are in Latin, and west is up. Another map, colorfully illustrated, is 'spider-webbed' with the various voyages through and across the Atlantic, and a big red line corresponding to the Tratado de Tordesilhas (1494, papal bull ceding Brazil to Portugal).

On a separate panel is a copy of A Carta de Pêro Vaz de Caminha, the document which journals the days leading to the 'discovery' of Brazil in 1500:

(Terça-feira, 21 de Abril de 1500. Sinais de terra) E assim seguimos nosso caminho por este mar, de longo, até terça-feira d'oitavas de Páscoa, que foram 21 dias d'Abril, que topámos alguns sinais de terra, sendo da dita ilha, segundo os pilotos diziam, obra de 660 ou 670 léguas, os quais eram muita quantidade d'ervas compridas, a que os mareantes chamam botelho e assim outras, a que também chamam rabo d'asno.

(Quarta-feiro, 22 de Abril) E à quarta-feira seguinte, pela manhã, topámos aves, a que chamam fura-buchos.

E neste dia, a horas de véspera, houvemos vista de terra, isto é, primeiramente d'um grande monte, mui alto e redondo, e d'outras serras mais baixas a sul dele e de terra cha com grandes arvoredos, ao qual monte alto o capitão pôs nome o Monte Pascoal e à terra a Terra de Vera Cruz.

[(Tuesday, April 21, 1500. Signs of land) And so we continue our way through this sea, long, until Tuesday of Easter, which was 21 days of April, that we found some signs of land, being from the said island, according to the pilots, work of 660 or 670 leagues, which were a lot of long herbs, which the sailors call bottle and so others, the one they also call donkey's tail.

(Wednesday, April 22) And the following Wednesday, in the morning, we hit birds, which they call buchos.

And on this day, at the hour of the day before, we had a view of land, that is, first of a large hill, very high and round, and of other lower mountains south of it and of land cha with large groves, to which high mountain the captain named Mount Pascoal and to the land the Land of Vera Cruz.]

 

 

We close the day at the Museu de Azeite (2005), which houses an old press industrialized in the mid-twentieth century. It apparently runs on steam: two large rollers mash the olives, and the product is pressed between stacks of woven 'collars', and all the material is conveyed on a tiny rail system. It's all now frozen in time

As we finish our tour, we consider the cultural sites in Belmonte, and marvel at the way this small town showcases and shares it heritage, especially the bond between these places and the people who established them – from a royal castle to a concealed legacy, and from global exploration to local culinary tradition. These sites and museums are not big, but collectively provide an excellent and wide lens on Portugal, and a thought-provoking day out.

There is a tasting station, and we buy some olive oil and some biscuits. We take them out to the nearby miradouro and enjoy our treats with a stunning view of the broad Vale do Rio Zêzere and the looming Serra de Estrela.