Trancoso, on the Beira Alta plateau, is one of Portugal's twelve aldeias históricas, the historic frontier villages with exceptional medieval heritage. It is entirely enclosed by walls with towers and gates, and on entering you feel you have stepped back centuries.
History
Finally taken from the Moors in the twelfth century, Trancoso became a frontier stronghold. In 1282 it hosted the wedding of King Dinis and Isabel of Aragon, the future Holy Queen, who received the town as a gift. In 1385, shortly before Aljubarrota, the Portuguese defeated a Castilian army at the battle of Trancoso. In the sixteenth century the shoemaker Gonçalo Annes Bandarra lived here, author of prophetic verses that, after King Sebastian vanished in Morocco, fed the myth of Sebastianism, the expectation of the lost king's return.
What to see
You enter through the Porta d'El Rei, topped by a coat of arms, and reach the main square with its pillory. The castle, at the top of the village, has a keep in the shape of a truncated pyramid, in Moorish style, a rarity in Portugal. In the lower part is the Jewish quarter, one of the largest in the country: houses keep paired wide and narrow doorways, for workshop and home, and carved symbols. The most famous is the Casa do Gato Preto, with reliefs on its façade believed to be of Jewish inspiration. The Isaac Cardoso Interpretation Centre, devoted to the Jewish physician and philosopher born here in 1603, has a modern synagogue and tells the community's story.
Food
The local sweet is sardinhas doces, almond and egg pastries shaped like sardines, of convent origin. A medieval fair is held in summer. Trancoso is about 45 minutes from Guarda and an hour from Viseu; other historic villages such as Marialva and Castelo Rodrigo are nearby.