Aldeia de Castelo Mendo - Castelo Mendo, Portugal
Posted by: 
tmob
N 40° 35.590 W 006° 56.971
29T E 673510 N 4495617
The village of Castelo Mendo was declared as public interest in 1984.
Waymark Code: WMDMRQ
Location: Guarda, Portugal
Date Posted: 02/02/2012
Views: 3
The village of Castelo Mendo played since the beginning of the thirteenth century, a fundamental role in the defense of the frontier of the country, so that by March 15, 1229 D. Sancho II gave him the first charter, possibly dating from this period to the original building "walled stronghold," protecting the population and encouraging population growth.
In 1281 D. Dinis confirmed the charter granted by D. Sancho II and established a market on the village, ordering the increasing of the defensive perimeter.
Since then, the urban development of Castelo Mendo was clearly marked by two distinct areas, the old town (burgo velho), an oval area which includes the building of the castle and the church of Santa Maria, and the new town (burgo novo), with its irregular distribution within the walls, whose developing occorued between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. The two areas differ in the volume, since the oldest part of town has an occupation more diluted.
Until today, the medieval urban structure of the village of Castelo Mendo remained intact, being interesting the absence of suburbs outside the perimeter wall.
Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries the evolution of the urban area was done not by the growth of the city limits, but rather through the updating of the building models, which however did not compromise the original urban grid.
The village of Castelo Mendo was declared as public interest on June 25th, 1984.
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