Castelo de Lanhoso, Portugal

Lanhoso Castle:
Lanhoso Castle, located on a magnificent rock mass, is one of the main cultural and heritage references in the municipality of Póvoa de Lanhoso.

Built in one of the most troubled periods in the History of Portugal, the Christian Reconquista, Lanhoso Castle survives over the centuries as an admirable example of medieval military architecture, where the imagery of battles and stories of love and betrayal, experienced here, stand out. for the peace and silence that this place transmits.

It is one of the monuments that best evokes the memory of D. Teresa, mother of D. Afonso Henriques, first King of Portugal, highlighting the episode of the siege of D. Urraca, her half-sister. Unable to take the medieval stronghold by storm, both parties ended the dispute with the signing of the Treaty of Lanhoso, in 1121.

In 1128, defeated in the battle of S. Mamede, in Guimarães, D. Teresa returned to the Castle of Lanhoso, forced by her son, on her way to exile to Galicia.

With an enviable and privileged geographical position, complemented by a line of robust and sumptuous walls, they made this medieval stronghold the worker in the defense and expansion of the borders of the Portucalense County.

The unparalleled monumentality in the country and the Iberian peninsula, framed by the surrounding valleys, carefully shaped by human hands, does not leave visitors' feelings indifferent.
(in C. M. Póvoa de Lanhoso)

Our Lady of Pilar Sanctuary:
The Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora do Pilar is a sanctuary of Marian devotion located on Monte do Pilar, very close to the Castle of Lanhoso, in Póvoa de Lanhoso.
Ordered to be built and built in 1680 by André da Silva Machado, a rich merchant and an excellent devotee of Our Lady of Pilar, he decided to erect a Sanctuary on the largest monolith in the Iberian Peninsula, with stone dismantled from the walls of the old castle.
It has a Way of the Cross formed by five chapels, with sculptures related to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.