Idanha-a-Velha
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Website | www.cm-idanhanova.pt |
Idanha-a-Velha (Idanha "the old") is a village in the civil parish (freguesia) of Monsanto e Idanha-a-Velha, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova (Idanha "the new"), central eastern Portugal, and the site of ancient Egitânia, a former bishopric. It covers an area of 20.98 km2 and had a population of 79 as of 2001.
It stands in a place where a Roman city located along the Ponsul River once lay, the regional capital of Civitas Igaeditanorum (1st century BC) under the Romans and later the episcopal seat during occupation by the Suebi and Visigoths.
The
It was donated to the Knights Templar in the 13th century and still has traces of different ages that attest to permanent occupation by various civilisations.
History
As one of the oldest towns in Portugal, with a history of Roman settlement recorded since the year 16 AD,[1] Idanha-a-Velha (Idanha "the old") has been described as a "modest village with a rich historical background".[2]
Idanha-a-Velha is built on the site of the city of Egitânia (Civitas Igaeditanorum), which previously had thousands of inhabitants.
The town was repeatedly invaded and looted throughout history, and the ruins evince the influence of different periods of its history: buildings from the Pre-History,
The town is reputed to have possibly been the birthplace of the famous
The town is host to a restored 16th century church, called "the Cathedral",[3] built on ruins dating from the time of the Suebi, as far back as to the fourth century — the first Visigothic cathedral built on the Iberian Peninsula.[1]
Near the cathedral is the largest collection of Roman epigraphs in Europe,[1] in an ancient building refurbished as a modern museum to contain the carved and inscribed Roman stones.[2]
The Roman
There is also a 17th-century pillory in the village square.[2] Nearby stand the ruins of a Torre dos Templários, a tower constructed on the ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to Venus.[2]
It was part of the civil parish of Alcafozes from 1900 to the early 1930s. In 2013, the civil parish of Idanha-a-Velha merged into the new parish Monsanto e Idanha-a-Velha.[4]
Ecclesiastical History
The presence of a primitive
Around 585, the Romanesque cathedral started to be constructed, that included not only the main structure by the baptistery and the hypothetical palace.[6] That was also the year that Suebic Galicia was annexed by the Visigoths, and was turned into the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania.
In 715 however, the diocese was suppressed (possibly with an apostolic succession of errant bishops), due to the Moorish invasion of Iberia, rendering the church's cathedral function mute. Between the 9th and 10th century, during the Moorish occupation, the temple was transformed into a mosque.[6]
When the bishopric could finally be restored in 1199 (after the
- Suffragan Bishops of Egitânia [7]
- Adorico (550?569 – 572?)
- Comundo (? – 589)
- Licério (? – 610)
- Montésis (? – 638)
- Arménio (? – 646)
- Siclua (? – 666)
- Monefonso (? – 688)
- Argesindo (? – 693)
- Rodrigo (1199–1199)
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Idanha-a-Velha". Freguesias (in Portuguese). Câmara Municipal de Idanha-a-Nova. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ a b c d e "Castelo Branco". Portugal Travel. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Catedral Visigótica de Idanha-a-Velha". Visit Portugal. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Diário da República. "Law nr. 11-A/2013, pages 552 58-59" (pdf) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ^ In 569, the Bishop of Egitânea was present at the Council of Lugo, confirming the existence of the bishopric.
- ^ a b c Conceição, Margarida; Costa, Marisa (2001), SIPA (ed.), Catedral de Idanha-a-Velha (IPA.00005882/PT020505040010) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, archived from the original on 13 March 2016, retrieved 1 December 2016
- ^ "Diocese of Guarda, Portugal". GCatholic.org. 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-17.