Sortelha is one of Portugal's aldeias históricas, in the municipality of Sabugal, on the Beira plateau near the Spanish border. It is a fortified village built on bare rock: the walls follow the outline of great granite boulders, the houses are rough stone, and the castle seems to grow straight out of the mountain.
The village
The fortifications date from the thirteenth century, when King Sancho II built the castle, later rebuilt by King Dinis. You enter through the Gothic gate in the walls, part of which you can walk, with views over the valley and towards Spain. Inside, a few cobbled lanes lead to the Manueline pillory, the mother church with its Mudéjar wooden ceiling and the granite houses, many restored as holiday lets. Outside the walls, a rock formation called Cabeça da Velha, the old woman's head, recalls the profile of a face and features in a local legend. In the evening, when visitors leave, the village falls silent and feels out of time.
Sabugal
The municipal seat, Sabugal, on the banks of the Côa, has a most unusual castle, the Castelo das Cinco Quinas, with a pentagonal keep, unique in Portugal, about 28 metres high. The municipality has other fortified villages such as Vilar Maior, Alfaiates and Sabugal Velho, and in summer it holds the traditional capeia arraiana, a bull festival in which young men face the bull with the forcão, a huge wooden trident.
Getting there
Sortelha is about 40 minutes by car from Guarda or Covilhã. It combines easily with Belmonte and the area's other historic villages, such as Monsanto and Almeida.