Monsanto: Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo

Monsanto: Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo
The small church which can now be seen within the walls of the Monsanto castle results from the reconstruction of an earlier temple, built by the Templars, who had been awarded these border lands.

It is the stage, each 3rd of May, of the Holy Cross Festival, held in honour of the many sieges the castle resisted: the local women take their rag dolls («marafonas») to the castle and throw pitchers full of flowers from the walls.

The legend (also told in other places of the Mediterranean zone, with small variations, and included in one of Umberto Eco´s novels) describes how the villagers of Monsanto threw their last calf, filled with grain, over the walls, a desperate ploy which convinced the sieging troops of the abundance of victuals inside the fortress, thus making them give up.