The marranos that have been living in Belmonte are sometimes referred to as the “Belmonte Jews.” They are a community that has survived in secrecy for hundreds of years by maintaining a tradition of endogamyand by hiding all the external signs of their faith. The community in the municipality of Belmonte, Cova da Beira subregion, Portugal, goes back to the 12th century […]
New Christian or convert was the name given in Portugal, Spain and Brazil to Jews and Muslims converted to Christianity, in contrast to the Old Christians. There have always been ethnic and religious minorities in Portugal, being Jews, Moors and later Roma, the most significant contingent. The first probably prior to the invasions of the […]
B’nei anusim (in Portuguese, “children forced”) designating the descendants of Jews forcibly converted (anusim) or Marrano is a generic Hebrew expression and historiographical concept that refers to Jews converted to Christianity of the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula that “judaizavam”, that is, who continued to secretly observe their ancient customs and their former religion. […]
The Jewish Museum of Belmonte, is a museum that depicts the long history of the Jewish community in the region that resisted long years and centuries of religious persecution. It is the first museum of its kind in Portugal, located in the last redoubt of criptojudaica community then installed around the fifteenth century. The museum […]
This is a unique monument lytic currently in ruins, over the centuries has attracted the attention of onlookers and scholars, raising many different legends and theories around him. One of the traditions, for example, states that the building would have been a prison with a hundred cells (hence the name), which would have been captive […]
The community of Belmonte houses an important feature of the Sephardic Jewish history, related to the Jewish resistance to religious intolerance in the Iberian Peninsula. In the sixteenth century, when the expulsion of the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula, and the reconquest of the Spanish and Portuguese land by Catholic kings and Manuel, a law […]
It is believed that the early human occupation of the site dates back to a prehistoric fort, possibly Romanized, to believe the testimonies of this period, abundant in the region. There is insufficient evidence in favor of its subsequent occupation. Some scholars claim to be this town the birthplace of Wamba, the last great king […]
Near the border, the town founded by Gualdim Parents have been the perfect space to serve as a refuge for Jews in 1492, were expelled from Spain by the Catholic Monarchs. But what stands out among other Penamacor borderer lands are not Jewish traces left by this ancient community but that it is the birthplace […]
Occupied by the Muslims at the time of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, under the reign of King Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), was conquered by D. Moninho Dola. Aiming to encourage their settlement and defense, the sovereign granted it a charter, attributing to the Knights Templar the direction of the castle rebuilding jobs. Certainly […]
Religious architecture: Chapel of San Pedro de Coming to Doe or Mother Church of Vira-Doe Chapel of Our Lady of Azenha Chapel of Our Lady Foot of the Cross Chapel of Santa Maria do Castelo Chapel of St. Anthony (Monsanto) Chapel of St. Joseph (Monsanto) Chapel of St. Michael Castle (Monsanto) Chapel of St. Sebastian […]
