Penedono

Penedono (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɨnɨˈðonu]) is a municipality in the northern district of Viseu in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 2,952, in an area of 133.71 km².

History

The Dolmen culture reached the regions of Penedono during antiquity. The area of Antas, for example, was primarily constructed on the religious-funerary monumental dolmen that was constructed during the Neolithic. In the flanks of the mountains these tribes established castros that were later appropriated by Roman garrisons to support their positions in the lands. They also constructed new roads that intersect the hills, discovering gold and silver deposits, in addition to precious metals, which they exported back to Rome.

But the land was successively occupied by barbarians from eastern Europe, including tribes of Alans, Vandals, Suebi and Visigoths. Two centuries later theses groups were displaced by Arab invaders from North Africa, who remained until expulsed in the second half of the 9th century, by Ferdinand I of León and Castile.