Castelo de Noudar (Noudar Castle)
History
According to archaeological testimonies, the first human incursions in the place date back to prehistoric times, being a territory later successively occupied by Romans, Visigoths and Muslims.
It was the latter who were responsible for the original fortification on the site, around the 10th or 11th century, when a small tower or castle was built to control the path that connected Beja. Of course, what is on display today is much more recent: there is very little of Arabs, much more of Christians, a good part of which has been reconstructed.
At the time of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, namely since 1167, the region was conquered by the forces commanded by Gonçalo Mendes da Maia, "o Lidador". Later, in 1253, the town received a charter from King Alfonso X of Castile, along with other towns on the left bank of the Guadiana River, including Moura and Serpa.
The settlement would definitely pass to the Portuguese Crown through the Treaty of Guarda (1295), which established peace between D. Dinis (1279-1325) and Fernando IV of Castile.
Once the border with Castile was defined, D. Dinis sought to populate the territory. This need justified the creation of the first “Couto de Homiziados”, that is, a place where people persecuted by justice could live in peace as long as they did not leave. In the 15th century, outside the village of Noudar, some family-oriented settlements began to settle in small hills with agricultural and livestock activities.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Barrancos evolved and the number of inhabitants of the village very quickly surpassed that of the village of Noudar. Around Barrancos are concentrated most of the new settlers of the Noudar term. In 1493, the important concentration led to an inquiry by the Portuguese crown about the village of Barrancos that Castela intended to be its own, being in fact part of Portugal. Barrancos developed from the 14th century onwards, with the decline in the population of Noudar coinciding with its growth from the 16th century onwards. In 1774 Barrancos shared the county seat with Noudar but, in 1836, the county of Noudar ceased to exist.
The Legend of Noudar Castle
The longer version reports a Moorish woman who lived here. She had a friend who lived in a neighboring castle, who had fallen in love with a Christian knight. The love was such that the woman planned to be baptized in order to marry her beloved. The brother of the Moorish woman from Noudar, upon learning of the heresy that his sister's friend was preparing to commit, stabbed her. Repentant with his murderous impulse, he then hanged himself, and his sister, as if in an act of lamentation, took on a strange enchantment, exiling herself at the back of the fort.
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