by Vânia Sofia Faria Costa
Resumo
The presenting drawings were made during the last visits to the Monte de Faria Hillfort. They are part of a Travel Notebook/Graphic Diary, whose continuous production arises from the need and importance of observing, registering, getting to know, reflecting the inherited architectonic patrimony part of human history, of common memory, and immeasurable public interest. One draws to inscribe a personal look but as a reflection about the architectural object and its place.
The following brief note about the Monte de Faria Fort, which is the result, above all, of observation and reflection about it, has only the purpose of presenting it and, thus, contextualizing the referred drawings
Castro of Monte de Faria
On a steep, rocky hillside, on the northwest slope of the Monte da Franqueira, we find the ruins of the Monte de Faria Castro. On the lands of the old Julgado de Faria (Faria Court), it extends across the current parishes of Gilmonde, Milhazes, and Pereira, in the Barcelos municipality, Braga district, and, although it is not located on the highest point of the Monte da Franqueira, it emerges in a position of dominance over the surrounding landscape.
In the area where the ruins of the Monte de Faria Fortress, there are traces of human occupation from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. The dismantled architectonic structures denote a succession of construction times. To the uncovered, essentially, are clear traces of a Castrejo civilization and later Roman occupation and, at the top of the hill, remains of the medieval Castle of Faria, once the Head of the land of Faria.
The very rugged territory, with huge boulders to the east and a steep slope to the west, provided the settlements – that once lived there – refuge and natural defense. The Castrejo settlement, to make the place more inaccessible, built a defensive set consisting of three walls and two moats, partly visible. These structures, although dismantled, still stand imposing over the territory, revealing the greatness of its former dimensions.
The third wall (which corresponds to the one located at the lowest level) is not visible in all its extension and, part was destroyed when the road linking the parish of Pereira to the parish of Milhazes was opened. The second and first walls, visible in their totality, are doubly reinforced and present, respectively, three gates (east, northwest and southeast) and a door (east). The first wall was, in the Medieval Age, reused for the construction of the Castle. Currently, it presents: inside, vestiges of the Keep, of quadrangular plant, and of other walls attached to this and to the wall, that can be remains of the Alcalde's Palace.
Around the second wall is where, at present, most of the vestiges are uncovered, in addition to the above. Between the third and second walls, flanking the East door of the second wall – the convenient access to the hill – are traces of small paved streets and various housing compounds, consisting of units, with or without vestibule, of circular, sub-circular, and sub-rectangular plan. Near the northwest doorway of the second wall, it raises a talus surrounding a small space facing the valley, where we can find the remains of a circular unit of considerable size. There are also traces of an extensive wall that could be part of the third wall, or, considering its proximity to the second wall, part of a barbican. To the north, near the second wall, there are traces of several structures with conical shapes. To the west, further away from the summit of the hill, there are traces of dwellings with a rectangular plan.
Near the Monte de Faria settlement, we find, to the northeast, at a lower level, the Church and Convent of Franqueira/ dos Frades and, to the southeast, at an upper level, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Franqueira. Much stone from the aforementioned Castro, already ruined in the 16th century, was used in those constructions.
In the 20s, 30s, and 40s, the majority of the archaeological excavations and later conservation and reconstruction works were carried out by the Alcaides de Faria Pró-Franqueira Group (founded in 1929 to explore the ruins of the Monte de Faria settlement), some of which are highly questionable. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was carried out another series of archaeological excavations and conservation actions. The records of the archaeological excavations show the existence of traces of other structures yet uncovered.
In the last few decades, there have been no reports of significant excavation work at the Monte de Faria settlement, with only sporadic cleaning of the surrounding woods. Until then, one has done very little to preserve, protect, valorize and publicize the settlement, which, now, is covered in a mantle of trees and wild herbs and left to disrespect, abandonment, and neglect by human beings.
DESENHOS
Author: Vânia Sofia Faria Costa is from the parish of Pereira, municipality of Barcelos, district of Braga, a student at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (doing her Master's Dissertation in Architecture).