Penedono

Penedono, in the highlands of the Beira Interior, is a village of granite crowned by one of the most picturesque medieval castles of Portugal: a small fortress of stone raised on its outcrop, with the lanes of the village gathered at its feet. Between the castle and the fields, the village keeps the memory of the old frontier lands of the Beira.

The village and its castle

The castle of Penedono rises on a granite hill above the village, with its triangular plan of towers and walls — a small but complete medieval fortress, one of the symbols of the region. Below it, the village stretches along its old lanes, between stone houses and gardens, in a landscape of granite outcrops and fields that has changed little through the centuries.

What to see

• The castle and its walls, on the granite outcrop.
• The lanes and houses of the village below.
• The landscapes of granite and fields of the Beira.
• The quiet of the square and the church of the village.

Visiting

Penedono belongs to the district of Viseu, in the Beira Interior, within reach of Trancoso and the other historic villages of the region; the castle is visited on foot, and the conditions of the visit follow the official information of the municipality.

Nearby

The stone village of Castelo Rodrigo and the historic Trancoso are the great companions of a journey through the Beira.

Information: cm-penedono.pt.

Image credit: The castle of Penedono, by Vitor Oliveira, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.