history of the house

The Casa Principal in 2003.

Casa Vicente 2003

apartment nr 5 (2003)

The Solstice-rock

Sunset on 21 June.

Excavation of an earlier house.

remains of a 7000 years old grave, (15 minutes walk)

Casa Principal in 2016

The History of the House
The history of this place may begin as long as 6,000 years ago. The large rock on top of the hill, next to Casa Miradouro, appears to have been shaped to mark the summer solstice. Imagine a straight line extending from the back of the rock toward the horizon, and you will find the point where the sun sets on June 21. Solstice ceremonies may once have been held here by the community that also built the nearby anta—a prehistoric megalithic tomb located about one kilometer northwest of the house—and carved the remarkable circular cup marks into the rocks at Pego do Sino, a small canyon about one kilometer to the northeast.
Centuries later, the solstice rock became the cornerstone of a house. We excavated part of its remains and discovered that the building must have contained at least twelve rooms, and possibly more. Casa Miradouro may once have served as the chapel of this monte (farmstead). In the immediate surroundings we found traces of additional buildings, suggesting that a small settlement once occupied the hill.
We believe that about 200 years ago the buildings had deteriorated to such an extent that the owners decided not to restore them but instead to construct a new residence—the building now known as the Casa Principal.
Archaeologists have told us that it would be surprising if the Romans had not settled here. The dimensions of the rooms correspond closely to Roman units of measurement, suggesting that Roman remains may still lie beneath the floors. The Roman road connecting Mérida and Évora passed close to the Herdade, while a secondary road leading to the Tera River and Pego do Sino—where a Roman milestone has been found—likely crossed Marmeleira. Although we have found no conclusive evidence of Roman occupation, some plasterwork on the solstice rock is characteristic of Roman construction.
It is also possible that the Moors occupied the site during the early Middle Ages. They ruled this region from the eighth to the thirteenth century. The excavated remains reveal three rows of four rooms, suggesting an interior courtyard surrounded by living quarters—a layout typical of Moorish domestic architecture.
The Casa Principal was built approximately 200 years ago. At that time, Herdade da Marmeleira covered several thousand hectares. During the first half of the twentieth century it employed a permanent staff of around thirty people. During the grain harvest, however, another eighty seasonal laborers and their families—many from Trás-os-Montes—came to help.
The large central hall was probably used for both cooking and sleeping. A substantial part of the workers' wages was paid in bread and wine—as much as five liters of wine per family each day—so the house must also have echoed with singing. The laborers worked hard for modest wages, while the landowner enjoyed relative prosperity. Yet despite its importance, the estate never had electricity, running water, or a sewage system. The only decorative feature of the house was the elegant cap of its chimney.
The Herdade also had its own grain mills, powered by the waters of the Tera River. Today their ruins remain both haunting and fascinating.
Transportation and farm work were carried out mainly with oxen. Each oxen driver managed two pairs—one pair for the morning and another for the afternoon. Unlike horses or dogs, oxen cannot be trained through punishment and reward. Instead, they respond to the human voice. Each driver developed his own songs, singing to guide and encourage the animals throughout the day.
Shortly after Portugal's Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Herdade was abandoned, perhaps after being briefly occupied by the laborers themselves. In reality, however, the decline had begun much earlier. The estate could no longer compete with farms on more fertile land, both elsewhere in Portugal and abroad.
As the buildings stood empty, doors were removed for firewood and the roofs gradually collapsed. Cattle, sheep, and pigs belonging to local shepherds became the new occupants of the ruins. At certain times of the year, shepherds even lived in the building that is now known as Casa Vicente.
The Herdade passed through the hands of several investment companies before we purchased it in 2002. Although the buildings were in poor condition, the walls remained strong enough to support new roofs. We restored the estate while preserving its principal architectural features. For the first time in its history, the monte received electricity, running water, and a modern sewage system.
The landscape continues to evolve. Since 2002, several new houses have been built—though not in the immediate vicinity—kilometers of fencing have been erected, and lagoas (artificial lakes) have been created upstream, reducing the flow of water in the rivers below.
Yet the essential character of the landscape remains unchanged: gently rolling hills dotted with cork and holm oaks, interspersed with dense stands of esteva (gum rose; Cistus ladanifer). The cool nights beneath a sky filled with brilliant stars, accompanied only by the calls of owls and the cries of foxes, still evoke a timeless world—one that, we hope, will endure for generations to come.

A Curious Floor Plan

Another mystery concerns the floor plan of our house (see the illustration below). According to António Tavares, it bears a remarkable resemblance to the layout of a church. There are several possible explanations for this similarity.
The simplest explanation is that it is merely a coincidence. The layout may have developed without any symbolic intention or connection to an earlier structure. We do know that the builders made practical use of the existing rock formations, incorporating them as cornerstones or as part of the supporting walls, so the natural terrain undoubtedly influenced the design.
A second possibility is that the builder deliberately gave the house the shape of a church. Such a design may have been intended to invoke divine protection or blessing, or perhaps to express the owner's religious devotion and social standing.
The most intriguing possibility, of course, is that the present house was built on the ruins of an earlier church—or perhaps even a convent. If that were true, the church itself may have been constructed on the remains of an even older settlement. It is a fascinating idea, but so far we have found no convincing evidence to support it.
Such a church or convent would have been substantial in size. Yet, as far as we know, no historical documents mention its existence. Nor have our excavations uncovered artifacts that clearly point to a religious building on this site.
On the other hand, there is abundant evidence that people have lived in this area for many centuries, perhaps even for several millennia. For now, we have placed this question in the category of unresolved mysteries. After all, the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence. It may simply mean that we have not yet excavated the right place—or deeply enough.