Centro Interpretativo do Crasto de Palheiros

Castro de Palheiros is a Chalcolithic and Iron Age settlement in the municipality of Murça. This settlement was established during the Iron Age in the north-east of the Peninsula, on a site that shows traces of a previous Chalcolithic occupation. The evolution of the settlement demonstrates the excellent conditions it provided for the survival of the human communities that chose it over time. This occupation is also confirmed by the presence of elements attributable to its use in the Late Bronze Age. The settlement has a complex defensive system made up of two lines of wall raised on loose stone and slopes, showing signs of having been, at some point during their use, covered with stone protection in the most vulnerable areas in defensive terms, due to the occasional absence of cliffs and the high cliffs characteristic of the headland. The Crasto de Palheiros, or Fragada do Castro, is an imposing quartzite ridge that was gradually sculpted and built by the people of the Terra Quente region of Trás-os-Montes between the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. - Chalcolithic - and the present. Between 2900 and 2300 BC, the entire 2.5-hectare ridge was transformed into a large prehistoric stone monument. In the 5th century BC, during the so-called Iron Age, it was once again chosen by indigenous populations for the foundation of a settlement. This settlement lasted for around 500 years as it was abandoned around the end of the 1st century AD, during the Roman occupation of the region. Archaeological excavations began in 1995 and, in 2009, the Interpretive Center was inaugurated - which we invite you to visit (by appointment).