Juromenha
Located in a strategic point of crossing of the river Guadiana, to two steps of Spain and the neighboring Olivença, Juromenha always aroused the interest of the several towns that inhabited Iberian Peninsula. According to ancient tradition, its first walls were erected in Roman times. Already in the Muslim period, Juromenha, then called Chelmena, consolidated itself as an important strategic defense site of Badajoz.
In 1167, Juromenha was conquered by Geraldo without dread, and passed for the first time to the hands of the Portuguese. Once again taken by the Almohads in 1191, it entered definitively in Portuguese possession in 1242, when it was reconquered by D. Paio Peres Correia, Master of the Order of Santiago. Since then, the castle of Juromenha played a relevant role in the defense of the Portuguese frontier, having been rebuilt in the time of D. Dinis, king who in 1312 gave Foral to the place.
During the Restoration period (17th century), the old Castle of Juromenha gave way to a new fortress, projected in the Vauban system. In 1662, the Frenchman Nicolau de Langres, who had designed the Fortress, entered Portugal integrated into the Spanish army. So this military engineer participated in the taking of Juromenha by the forces commanded by Juan of Austria, and therefore it happened to History like curious case of someone who contributed to the fall of a fortification that had idealized.
In 1801, the place returned to be protagonist of the History of Portugal, and by the time of the War of the Oranges, conflict that was due to the name to a seductive gesture of Manuel Godoy, Prince of Peace and generalissimo of the Spanish army that, when the siege Of Elvas, sent a branch of orange and its fruits to Queen Maria Luisa of Spain, along with the message: "I need everything but I will not go to Lisbon."
Abandoned by the Spaniards, Juromenha was then surrendered without resistance by her governor, Lieutenant Colonel Gama Lobo, who by this was tried at a court-martial and deported to Angola.
What to visit:
1. Fortaleza (17th century)
2. Mother Church
3. Church of Mercy
4. Old Town Hall
In 1167, Juromenha was conquered by Geraldo without dread, and passed for the first time to the hands of the Portuguese. Once again taken by the Almohads in 1191, it entered definitively in Portuguese possession in 1242, when it was reconquered by D. Paio Peres Correia, Master of the Order of Santiago. Since then, the castle of Juromenha played a relevant role in the defense of the Portuguese frontier, having been rebuilt in the time of D. Dinis, king who in 1312 gave Foral to the place.
During the Restoration period (17th century), the old Castle of Juromenha gave way to a new fortress, projected in the Vauban system. In 1662, the Frenchman Nicolau de Langres, who had designed the Fortress, entered Portugal integrated into the Spanish army. So this military engineer participated in the taking of Juromenha by the forces commanded by Juan of Austria, and therefore it happened to History like curious case of someone who contributed to the fall of a fortification that had idealized.
In 1801, the place returned to be protagonist of the History of Portugal, and by the time of the War of the Oranges, conflict that was due to the name to a seductive gesture of Manuel Godoy, Prince of Peace and generalissimo of the Spanish army that, when the siege Of Elvas, sent a branch of orange and its fruits to Queen Maria Luisa of Spain, along with the message: "I need everything but I will not go to Lisbon."
Abandoned by the Spaniards, Juromenha was then surrendered without resistance by her governor, Lieutenant Colonel Gama Lobo, who by this was tried at a court-martial and deported to Angola.
What to visit:
1. Fortaleza (17th century)
2. Mother Church
3. Church of Mercy
4. Old Town Hall
