Citânia E Menir Das Chãs Em Longa

The citânia de Longa, or castle of Longa or Castle of the Moors, is located on the hill of the wall and is classified by IPPAR (Portuguese Institute of Archaeological Heritage) as a Property of Public Interest. Erected during the Iron Age, at an altitude of 919 meters, the settlement was primarily equipped with a complex defensive system, in this case consisting of two lines of wall associated with the outcrops found there, as well as the natural conditions of defense conferred by the steep cliffs, in a good demonstration of the way in which protohistoric communities (or those of "recent prehistory") knew how to adapt their daily needs to what Nature offered them, wisely harmonizing the force of nature and the shaping power of Man. In fact, the view from the entrance area of the settlement will be impressive due to the excellent state of preservation in which its components have reached us, offering us the chance to glimpse, for a moment or two, the grandeur that similar archaeosites imposed on all those who approached them at the time, especially when they saw the turrets, which are still visible today. Exceeding two meters in height and with a width of more than one meter, the granite material used in its construction was laid in wedges, overlapping horizontally, essential for its robustness and consequent durability. It is possible to identify some domestic structures in the area delimited by the internal wall. The Chãs Menhir, located near the citânia, is the second largest existing menhir in Portuguese territory. It is a menhir (apparently without an assigned CNS), located near the Citânia de Longa with a phallic configuration more than 6 meters long and about 0.75 meters in diameter at the base. Identified in 2001, it is thought to date from the Chalcolithic period and was probably reused in the Bronze Age.