Monsanto Village

Monsanto sits on a granite hill above the Beira Baixa plain, and the rock came first. Builders worked around the boulders rather than clearing them: walls run into stone, doorways are cut under overhangs, and in places a single block the size of a room serves as the roof of the house beneath it. Lanes are narrow, steep and paved in the same granite, and old pigsties, bread ovens and water tanks were fitted into gaps between rocks. A path climbs to a ruined castle on the summit, where broken walls, a cistern and rock-cut graves beside a small chapel look out over the Idanha plateau toward the Spanish border. Fewer than a hundred people live here year round.

What to look for

• The boulder houses - granite blocks used as roofs, walls and floors of lived-in homes.
• The castle ruins - broken walls, a cistern and rock-cut graves beside the chapel on the summit.
• Torre de Lucano - the clock tower below the castle, topped by a silver rooster given as a village prize.
• The plateau below - a long view over the Idanha country toward the Spanish border.

When to go

Spring and early autumn suit the climb; the granite holds heat and July and August afternoons on the lanes are punishing. Mornings are quiet, and late light turns the boulders orange, which is when the village photographs best. Weekends and holidays fill the small car park by mid-morning, so arrive early or come on a weekday.

Things to know

The village is small and an hour or two covers it. Everything is uphill on uneven granite that turns slick in rain, and the castle path has loose footing and no railings, which rules it out for some. Services amount to a handful of places to eat, several shut out of season. Coaches park below and the lanes get tight when a group arrives.

Nearby

Idanha-a-Velha's Roman and Visigothic remains are twenty minutes away, and Castelo Branco is under an hour.