Castle of Faria

Parish of Milhazes

Background

Early human occupation of this site dates back to c. 3,000 BC, according to modern research at the archaeological site, when ceramic remains and arrowheads were identified. An acropolis was probably formed around 2,000 BC, when ceramic remains and fragments of bronze axes were identified.

This settlement was succeeded by a hill fort, around 700 BC, according to the stone structures identified outside the castle: three lines of walls and a set of circular and quadrangular houses with their respective streets. Ceramic fragments and other remains indicate commercial contacts with Mediterranean peoples between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Other remains indicate Roman occupation between the 1st and 6th centuries. No explicit references to Muslim occupation were found.

The medieval castle

Archaeological research indicates that the first layout of the castle dates back to the 9th to 10th centuries, in the context of the Christian À época da Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The first documentary reference to the castle mentions that its lord (tenens) was Soeiro Mendes da Maia (1099), an important name in the landed nobility of the County of Portugal. Another documentary source indicates that Afonso I of Portugal (1112-1185) was there in January 1128. Head of the so-called Terra de Faria, throughout the 12th century the castle had important names as mayors such as Ermígio Riba Douro, Mem de Riba Vizela and Garcia de Sousa.

It would have been subject to expansion and reinforcement work during the reign of Denis of Portugal (1279-1325), according to the remains of a tower identified by archaeological research in the 20th century. The same research also identified the remains of a tower that corresponds to a later period, to the time of Fernando I of Portugal (1367-1383).

According to legend, the castle withstood the assault by Castilian forces in early 1373.

From the 15th century onwards, with the ascension to the throne of the Avis dynasty, the castle lost its defensive and administrative functions to Barcelos, being progressively abandoned until it fell into ruin. Some of its stones were used to build the neighboring Convento da Franqueira, built at the foot of the hill.

From the 20th century to the present day

In the 20th century, archaeological excavation campaigns (1930, 1932, 1936 and 1949) were undertaken on the initiative of the Grupo dos Alcaides de Faria Pró-Franqueira, founded in 1929, with headquarters in Barcelos. The remains of an Iron Age fort were thus identified, in addition to the first walls dating back to the time of the County of Portugal, and the remains of the keep of Denis of Portugal and another of Fernando I of Portugal were uncovered, including the entire defensive system composed of the wall circuit and the Barbican, evidencing a constructive evolution that, during the Middle Ages, making use of part of the existing walls, was extended with the addition of new ones. They also began the reconstruction of one of these keep towers.

These works contributed to the castle ruins and the archaeological site being classified as a National Monument by Decree published on July 13, 1956.

The archaeological research was resumed in modern times, in 1981, under the responsibility of researchers from the University of Porto.

Features

The castle, built in the Romanesque style, has a separate keep in the center of the parade ground, delimited by the medieval inner fence. The battlement was built later.

The legend of Faria´s Mayor

During the reign of Ferdinand I of Portugal (1367-1383), during the second war with Castile, the northern border of Portugal was invaded. The forces of the sovereign of Castile were advancing through Viseu towards Santarém and Lisbon, when a second column, coming from Galicia, entered through Minho. Portuguese forces from Porto and Barcelos went out to meet him, including a detachment under the command of Nuno Gonçalves de Faria, mayor of Faria Castle. The encounter took place near Barcelos, and the Portuguese forces fell and the mayor of Faria was captured. Afraid that his freedom would be used as a bargaining chip for possession of the castle, garrisoned by his son, Gonçalo Nunes de Faria, he devised a stratagem. Convincing the Castilian commander to take him before the castle walls, under the pretext of convincing his son to surrender, he used the opportunity thus obtained to exhort the young man to resist, under penalty of a curse. Killed by the Spanish in front of his son, due to his courageous act, the castle resisted the assault undefeated. The victorious son took the habit, and the castle was succeeded by a monastery.

The episode was originally narrated by Fernão Lopes and immortalized by Alexandre Herculano in the work "Lendas e Narrativas".