Monsanto: Portuguese Village

Monsanto was voted in 1938 the “most Portuguese village in Portugal” nestles on the slope of a steep hill (the Monsanto head, known in Latin as Mons Sanctus), which rises abruptly above the prairy and reaches a height of 758 meters (2486 feet).

The most typical aspect of Monsanto is the fact that the village developed around impressively big and miraculously balanced granitic boulders.

One of the most symbolic traditions of Monsanto is the Festival of the Holy Cross, held on the 3rd of May, to commemorate the resistance to a long history of sieges: the women carry to the top of the castle typical rag-dolls (known as “marafonas”) and clay jars full of flowers are thrown from the walls.