- In the heart of Portugal, there is a region full of rolling green hills, ancient olive trees, and quaint stone cottages that are passed down through the generations.

As you can see, it's a piece of paradise.

Today, we are getting curious about Portugal's historic villages.

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Today, we are doing some cobbled street strolling and some mountain hopping to a few of Portugal's 12 historic villages.

Most people dream of visiting or even living in a place like this.

But as picture-perfect as these villages are, we will soon learn that they served a much more serious history.

Although, they're all still very pretty.

(upbeat music) Sure, Lisbon and Porto are wonderful, but to get a taste of ancient and medieval Portugal frozen in time, we are traveling off the beaten path through the historic villages of Portugal.

A designated group of 12 villages, that while small, are mighty powerhouses of historic and cultural significance.

And we have chosen three to explore today, Castelo Rodrigo, Belmonte, and Sortelha.

So here's what I'm curious about in Portugal's historic villages.

Who was born here and went on to become a famous navigator in the Age of Exploration?

What is the eternal kiss and what does a grouchy mother have to do with it?

Where can you find two goats, a sun gate, and lots of curious crosses?

Why is this frilly little window so important to Portuguese architecture?

When was a secret tunnel built for the villagers of this hilltop town?

And how did one small community keep a big secret for hundreds of years?

Who, what, where, why, when, and how, so much to be curious about in Portugal's historic villages.

(upbeat music) Our first village has been occupied since ancient times and is full of curious history.

Castelo Rodrigo may be small, but it's history is mighty.

Founded by King Alfonso the Ninth of Leon, it has this medieval castle at its heart, some quirky little historic spots, and some of the most picturesque village streets you've ever seen.

Strolling past these stone cottages with bright flowers at every corner, it's hard to believe this peaceful little village of only about 200 residents had so much turbulent history.

It's ancient origins are Celtic and Roman.

Then the area is ruled by the Moors.

Then, it becomes part of the kingdom of Leon in today's Spain and is then named for a Spanish count, Rodrigo Gonzalez de Giron.

And finally, becomes part of Portugal in 1297.

Here at the highest point of the village, as no surprise, we have a castle.

And this amazing castle history goes back hundreds of years.

It began as a military fortress and was later developed into a palace for the kings.

In fact, if you look up here above the entryway, you can see the coat of arms of the royal family.

But the reason why this high point was chosen was because they had to look out for the bad guys.

And those bad guys almost always were from Spain, whose border is just a few miles from here, which is why this location was chosen.

King Denis of Portugal carried out many renovations, including the keep and the city walls, which still encircle the village today.

Fortunately, there are even more wonderful remnants of those medieval days, including the Pillory, marking when King Manuel gave the town its charter in 1508.

Its Bell Tower sticking out of one of the wall's turrets and the Sun Gate, so named because it faces east towards the sunrise.

Over the centuries, all those disputes between the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, and later Spain, had some interesting effects on little Castelo Rodrigo.

(mellow music) In the 14th century when the village sided with Castile, as a punishment, the Portuguese king ordered that the coat of arms of Portugal should always be displayed upside down on the town's coat of arms.

And then in the 16th century, when Castelo Rodrigo was under Spanish control, a Spanish ruler had his palace built here on the same spot as the castle.

In the 17th century, after Portuguese independence was restored, the local villagers saw that palace as a symbol of Spanish domination.

So, they burned it down.

I think they got their point across.

(uplifting music) Next, let's explore the village's religious history.

(uplifting music) So we know that Castelo Rodrigo originally served a military purpose, with that protective fortress and castle.

But later, it served a religious purpose as well as a stop for those pilgrims along the Santiago de Compostela.

In fact, legend has it that Saint Francis of Assisi himself once spent the night here.

(uplifting music) This is the church of Our Lady of Rocamadour, founded in the 13th century specifically as a refuge stop for those pilgrims traveling across Europe along the Saint James Way.

Inside this little church is a mix of Romanesque, gothic, and baroque styles with a gorgeous coffered wood ceiling and gilded wood carvings on the altar piece.

(uplifting music) Next, we visit another historic building in the village, the cistern, full of symbols and mystery.

(uplifting music) This cistern tells a little bit about the mix of this part of the world.

How do we know?

Well, look at the two different entrances.

The one on this side, you see how we have an arch with that little pinch at the top?

That tells us that it's gothic.

But this one over here has a completely different shape.

That tells us that it's moreish.

Together, we have this beautiful curious blend.

Last but not least, inside the cistern, those restorative waters were once used for sacred rituals.

That's right.

It is believed that this medieval cistern was once part of an old synagogue.

One section used for worship and the other used for ritual baths.

(upbeat music) Our next village, Belmonte.

(upbeat music) Belmonte's history dates back to Neolithic times.

Then in ancient times, a Roman road used to pass through here connecting the towns of Braga and Merida.

Then in the Middle Ages, it receives its charter in 1199.

Its tower was built.

Its castle was built.

And throughout the centuries, it develops a rich Jewish heritage and gives birth to a giant in the Age of Exploration.

As with all the historic villages, Belmonte's reason for being begins at its castle.

This mighty fortress was built in the 13th century as part of that defensive line of fortresses along the Portugal Spain border.

But fortunately, as peace spread across the region, the castle served different purposes.

As a manor house for a very important local family whom we will soon meet.

And one point, it served as the town hall.

And today, inside the castle courtyard, instead of nights in armor, you will find a modern day amphitheater for performances and concerts, where I'm just going to guess armor is optional.

But what I'm curious about are these frilly little windows way up high.

(upbeat music) There are three kings who left their mark here on Belmonte Castle, King Sancho, King Danish, and King Manuel.

Now, I didn't know any of these kings personally, but if I had to pick, I think I would choose King Manuel as my favorite.

Why?

Well, it is Manueline architecture that is named for him.

That is that beautiful, delicate, frilly, kind of looks like a wedding cake architecture that we see all over the historic sites of Portugal.

You can see Manueline architecture in its grandest scale along the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon.

But you can see just a little hint of it, just a touch, adorning the arches here at Belmonte Castle.

The Manueline architectural style is in essence the late gothic architecture of Portugal.

Here it is at the Jeronimos Monastery and the Belem Tower in Lisbon in all its intricate, lacey glory.

The style is important to the history of Portugal because it symbolizes the wealth and status achieved during the Age of Exploration, which brings us to another important part of Belmonte's history.

Look again at that Manueline window.

If you look closely, you will see two goats.

That's right, goats.

Why?

Well, for that answer, we need to visit a statue and a pantheon.

(mysterious music) The Cabret family was a very wealthy, prominent noble family here in Belmonte.

And their most famous relative has a statue dedicated to him here in this square.

Pedro Alvares Cabral, the famous Portuguese explorer, in the year 1500 left the coast of Portugal, sailed all across the Atlantic for more than 40 days towards South America.

To this day, he is credited with being the first European explorer to navigate to Brazil.

And back here in Belmonte, as you might imagine, he was a favorite of the king.

Pedro Alvares Cabral sailed from the shores of Portugal during the Age of Exploration, helping his country lead the way in colonizing new lands, spreading Christianity, and helping to map the globe.

Back in 1500, Cabral's voyages across the Atlantic were considered a victory for Portugal and were highly rewarded by King Manuel I.

And wealth was nothing new for Cabral, who started his life here in Belmonte as the son of a wealthy noble family, which brings us back to those two curious goats.

Just in front of the castle is a unique historic site with two small buildings with a really big history.

On this side is the Cabret Pantheon.

On this side is the Church of Santiago.

Now, the pantheon is a mausoleum of sorts, where members of the Cabral family were laid to rest.

Now the church over here, as you might guess from the name, is a pilgrimage stop for those traveling along the Santiago de Compostela.

Now look back over here at the mausoleum.

And above the door, you can see a little area there with some curious symbols.

One of those symbols actually showed olive oil pressing 'cause we know how important olive trees and olive oil is to this region.

And over on this side, you can see a happy guy above the door.

Well, that of course, is St. James welcoming all those pilgrims.

Now together, these two buildings create a national monument of Portugal.

(mysterious music) And inside, the curiosities continue.

(mysterious music) This narrow little passageway connects the pantheon to the Church of Santiago and with so many beautiful curiosities to explore.

The first one, do you see this beautiful statue of the Madonna and Child?

Well, this is a replica of the statue that Cabral took with him when he navigated to Brazil.

And then over here, do you remember those symbols over the doorway to the pantheon?

This is a better look at one of them.

This is the olive oil press, which was so important to the community that it became a symbol of Belmonte.

Now, just above that, since we're in the Church of Santiago, of course, we're going to have a shell.

Because the shells mark the way along the Santiago de Compostela.

Now for this last symbol, do you see that symbol in the middle with the two goats?

Well, believe it or not, these simple animals are the symbol for that noble family.

In Portuguese, goat is cabra and of course, we have the Cabret family.

(mysterious music) Yep, that's the reason for the two goats.

Back on Belmonte Castle, the Cabret family once lived here and their name simply means goat.

How curious.

(mysterious music) Next, we visit a section of Belmonte that is perhaps the most interesting of all, Belmonte's Jewish Quarter, full of centuries of secrecy.

In 1492, the Alhambra Decree during the Spanish Inquisition, Spain expelled its Jewish population.

Some of those refugees settled here in Belmonte because at the time, Portugal allowed Jewish people to practice their religion and traditions.

But only four years later, Portugal changes its laws and also expels its Jewish population unless they convert to Christianity, which is where the secrecy begins.

To explain more is local historian and guide, Elizabeth Montegero.

Almost right away, they were forced to convert?

- After they were expelled from Portugal, they were obliged to hide their true identity and they were obliged to leave their religion in secret.

And because of that, to name crypto Jews that mean the Jew that were forced to convert and live their religion in secret, because crypto means secret.

- [Christine] Crypto.

They were also called New Christians.

So these Jewish families practice their faith in secret.

They didn't dare to own any books written in Hebrew in case they might be discovered.

So, the traditions had to be passed down orally by the women who were the family leaders in keeping the faith alive for many generations.

- [Elizabeth] Inside of their houses, they keep the Judaism.

Outside, they keep the Catholicism that was used to hide their true identity.

And one of the things that parents always teach to their sons and daughters was, "What happens inside of our houses, stay inside.

We cannot say outside what we do inside."

- [Christine] The secrecy continued throughout the Inquisition, which lasted from the 16th through the 19th centuries.

And today there are some fascinating symbols of this time period.

See these crosses?

There is a theory that the Jewish families carved these crosses to show that they were actually Christian.

Another theory says that it was the Inquisition who made these marks after checking that the household was indeed Catholic and not Jewish.

But today, historians think these symbols could mean something else altogether.

- At the beginning, I always learned in school that was the Inquisition that mark their, the houses of the Christians.

Today, we have persons that defend that perhaps also the new Christians start to mark their houses- - Ah, okay.

- To hide their true identity.

And sometimes, these marks were used as a secret code that Jews use to speak with other Jews.

Because some people say that perhaps when you put the mark, the cross in a different position, sometimes you can find a shin that is a Hebrew letter, related to (speaking in foreign language), the gates of Israel.

- [Christine] In 1917, historian Samuel Schwartz discovered Belmonte's secret Jewish community.

Schwartz went on to write a book telling the world their incredible story.

The story impressed a generous benefactor so much that he built this synagogue for the community here in 1996 on a very important spot.

- The land where the synagogue was built was also special place for our Jewish community because sometimes they joined together there.

We can say that it was a kind of a synagogue at open air.

- Right.

After five centuries and many, many generations of families living in secrecy, today, it is believed that there are hundreds of descendants of those original Jewish Belmonte families.

They are all living symbols of resistance and perseverance.

(serene music) Next, we visit our last beautifully preserved historic village named Sortelha.

As you cross under the main gate through those medieval walls, you step back in time, way back in time.

Just one look at all the stone cottages, the stone roads, and the stone castle, and you can understand why the village's nickname is the Flintstones.

But you won't find Fred or Wilma around here, only wonderful legends of its mighty medieval history.

The medieval village of Sortelha was born in the early 12th century when its castle was built.

Look how imposing it still looks today.

Doesn't it look like it's just growing out of the hilltop?

Well, it kind of is because the strategic location on a rocky outcrop was chosen.

And then the materials were dug out of that hill and used to create the mighty fortress.

The castle later becomes the resident for a local noble family.

And wouldn't you know it?

There's a legend about that family preserved in a very curious way.

(serene music) I have a fairytale for you.

Once upon a time, a noble family lived inside Sortelha Castle and they had a beautiful daughter.

Once the daughter grew up, she fell in love with a boy.

But this boy was not of noble birth.

So as you might guess, this did not go over well with the mother.

And this particular mother happened to have some magical powers and she tried so hard to keep that couple apart, but they were just too much in love.

So finally she said, "Fine, you two are so in love, how about I lock you in an eternal kiss?

But this kiss will be made of stone."

So, that's exactly what she did.

She turned them into stone and lock them in an eternal kiss.

And you can still see that eternal kiss today.

(bell ringing) (upbeat music) Next, from fairytale to reality, what was life like for the villagers here in the Flintstones?

I mean, Sortelha.

Well, let's start with the basics, food, water, and shelter.

Back in the middle ages, you wouldn't be surprised to find out that families didn't have their own kitchens or at least they didn't have their own ovens.

Only one building in the whole village had the one oven and it was this one right here.

So families would come here to make their bread to then take back home.

So for all you fellow carb lovers out there, this is our favorite building.

Now, water, but water with a village secret.

This enclosed area was the town well.

Villagers would open that gate, come down these steps with their buckets, fill up on water to take back home.

But if you look closely, it looks like there's a pretty big leak here inside the well.

This is the porta do cavallo.

It was a secret passageway that just in case there were bad guys surrounding the city walls, villagers could go out to get supplies to bring back in.

(upbeat music) And next, we have shelter.

Shelter of the oh, so cute kind.

The absolute best part of visiting these historic villages are these adorable stone cottages.

They all look like they are straight out of a fairytale.

And this particular cottage here in Sortelha has some curious features on it.

You see all these little stones sticking out on the wall here?

They kind of look like they would be holding window boxes full of sweet smelling flowers.

But in fact, their purpose is not sweet smelling at all.

They were hooks to hold the chamber pots.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't their original purpose, but legend has it that these little protrusions were used for a time to hang those chamber pots on.

Now that we have basic needs covered, a village needs laws to keep order, right?

Well, medieval laws were tough to say the least.

So as we've seen, the village of Sortelha is picture perfect and serene.

But if you happen to be in this square in front of City Hall, you might wanna be aware of three things.

The first one is this pillary behind me that was used for petty criminals.

If somebody committed a small crime, like maybe stealing a loaf of bread, the punishment was to chain you to the post here and let the villagers throw stones at you.

That my friends does not sound like fun.

Number two, if you are a bad guy trying to get into the gate of the castle, you're gonna wanna be careful because just above there, they would pour hot oil on you.

And last but not least, if you committed treason, you were kicked out of a special gate.

This one, the treason gate.

You were thrown out and you were never allowed to return to the beautiful village again.

That's incentive enough to not commit treason.

Who would wanna be kicked out of a place as pretty as this anyway?

(playful music) To wrap up our tour of Sortelha, we meet up with local guide Tito Sereva in Coro Square to chat about the impact villages like Sortelha made on Portuguese history, including that all important border which developed between Portugal and Spain over the centuries.

- I believe this border with Spain is 200 kilometers of border was one of the first treaties between two countries to sell, to define a border.

- Right.

- In 1297, the Treaty of Alcanices- - [Christine] Okay.

- [Tito] Between Portugal and Castillo Leon at that time.

- And it's one of the oldest borders, isn't it?

- Yes.

- In all of Europe?

- I believe in all Europe, between two countries is one of the oldest, that's for sure borders between two countries, yes.

- Do you know the expression good fences make good neighbors?

- Yeah.

- There you go, so maybe it's worked, maybe.

- Exactly.

Exactly.

- [Christine] And speaking of neighbors, after all our tours of Castelo Rodrigo, Belmonte, and here in lovely little Sortelha, you may be wondering, "Does anybody live here anymore?"

- In 1855, Sortelha have more than 2,500 people.

- Wow.

In within the city walls.

- And in the city walls and around the walls.

Today, inside the walls, we have just two people.

- Who are these lucky two people inside here?

You?

- No.

No, I'm not from here.

I'm from Belmonte, another historic village - Oh, yes, of course.

Yes.

- Nearby.

- Yeah.

- Two old people live here.

But if you see half of the houses, they belong to families that are in Lisbon, Porto, or even outside the country.

And the other half is to tourism.

That's fantastic.

- It's fantastic.

You pass here weekend, it's paradise.

- So the two people that live here, are they a couple?

Are we allowed to know their names?

Should we say hello?

Or do they really rather not have visitors within the law?

- No, they like visitors.

- Okay, good.

Good, good, good.

- They like visitors.

- [Christine] So if you happen to see the two residents of Sortelha, don't be shy.

Say ola and tell them how lucky they are to live in one of the most beautiful, most quirky, most historic villages of Portugal.

(serene music) So from a string of mighty castles that helped to establish a kingdom and then a country to a pit stop for pilgrims, a palace destroyed for pride, and a watering hole for rituals full of curious symbols, to a couple of goats who live on top of a castle, to a local who sailed across an ocean, to a secret society who just wouldn't give up, to the land of the Flintstones with a couple of kissing rocks, a secret passageway, and a special door that you hope never opens for you.

Portugal's historic villages have so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and hows of Portugal's curious historic villages.

As they say here, boa viagem.

- (serene music) - [Narrator] "Curious Traveler," is made possible by the following.

- [Narrator] At Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we believe that personal space is essential to the luxury travel experience.

With no more than 732 guests, our ships allow you to explore the world and discover the freedom of having space at sea.

- [Narrator] Over 300 tours across all seven continents, over 40 years of serving travelers, you can explore the world through authentic experiences with GET, getours.com.

- Windstar Cruises' intimate, private yacht style cruises to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Tahiti, and more.

We look forward to seeing you on board, windstarcruises.com.

(mysterious music) - [Narrator] When you travel with us, you are not the typical tourist.

- [Narrator] And closed captioning provided by TAP Air Portugal.

- [Narrator] Still curious?

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