SANTO ESTEVÃO (CHAVES)
41° 45' 52" N; 7° 25' 14" W
The village of Santo Estêvão was once a Medieval village and its houses served as fortresses of the Castle.
In the geographical area of Santo Estêvão, there are several testimonies that attest to the existence of the village in prehistoric times.
In 1129, the region of Chaves was taken over by the Moors and retaken 31 years later.
The old village of Santo Estêvão and two neighboring villages, Faiões and São Pedro de Agostém, were strategic positions in the fertile Veiga, which the neighbors of the Kingdom of León were keen to snatch away at every moment. The castle of Santo Estêvão, in particular, was a vigilant sentry to the fertile plain, thus requiring a constant lookout on the northern border against the cunning raids of the enemy of the kingdom of Castile.
In the Castle of Santo Estêvão, King D. Sancho I celebrated the wedding of his daughter D. Teresa with D. Afonso IX, King of León. In the same Castle, lived for many years the other two daughters of D. Sancho I, D. Mafalda and D. Sancha and their son Afonso who came to succeed his father in the kingdom of Portugal, D. Afonso II.
King D. Afonso III stayed with Queen D. Beatriz in Santo Estêvão.
Already in the second half of the 17th century, in 1666, during the long struggles of the Restoration, Santo Estêvão was the theater of violence and cruelty, on the part of the soldiers of the Galician General Pantoja, who invaded the village and, afterwards, looted it. He took the Castle and massacred its small garrison, after setting the houses on fire. Pantoja then went to the Castle of Monforte de Rio Livre, with the intention of committing the same atrocities there. He was, however, beaten by the Portuguese Francisco de Távora, general of cavalry and Count of Alvor, who went out to meet him.
The historical and architectural features, which are the hallmark of a village with a history, tradition and special consideration, are visible in the following buildings:
medieval tower
bell tower
Mother Church
Three Classified Chapels
Casa do Paço or Duke of Bragança
roman archery
Fraga do Sino
12 Roman presses.
Santo Estêvão is, without a doubt, a town that keeps intact all the characteristics of nobility, specificity and relevance that come from being an important medieval town.
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