Castro de Lanhoso, Portugal

Castro de Lanhoso is located on a rocky spur of the mountain massif known as Monte de Lanhoso or Monte do Pilar where Lanhoso Castle is also located https://youtu.be/TuFWx_oGzMg. The topographic characteristics of the hill gave the village excellent natural defense conditions. Its geostrategic location was crucial for the settlement and evolution of a Castro community, which developed on the eastern slope of Monte de Lanhoso, throughout the 1st millennium BC. The structures, with a circular and rectangular plan, are distributed along the eastern slope of the hill and are arranged in terraces, supported by retaining walls.

This fortified settlement was the subject of sporadic archaeological work throughout the 20th century. XX. The analysis of the collection from archaeological excavations, carried out by Carlos Teixeira, in the 1930s, and by K. Petruso, in 1982, allowed the detection of several moments of human occupation prior to Romanization.

In 2001, the Municipal Council of Póvoa de Lanhoso, in addition to cleaning the structures,
proceeded with the construction of a nucleus formed by three housing structures that seek to represent, as accurately as possible, the characteristics typical of Castro housing.
Next to these buildings, visitors can enjoy an interpretative tour of Castro de Lanhoso and Castro Culture.