National Monuments of Portugal

The national monuments of Portugal (Portuguese: Monumentos Nacionais) were constructed throughout the Portuguese territory, and date back to the period of pre-historic settlement of occupation. Subsequently, the region that is today Portugal has been colonized by many civilizations, which have left marks in the territory, constructing markers, defensive structures, homes and places of worship to suit their requirements and means. The formal organization of the Portuguese state resulted in a process to qualify and quantify those structures that have had an intrinsic value to the Portuguese culture. Starting with the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGMEN), and later by the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR), the Portuguese government developed a registry of national monuments that includes a rich heritage of historical monuments throughout the country. This is a compilation of those structures that are designated as National Monuments only.

The first documented peoples to occupy the western coast of Iberia were the "Ostrimni" recorded in Ancient Latin poetry, whose territory stretched from Galicia (in northwestern Spain) to the Algarve (southern area of Portugal). The Greeks called the area of Portugal Ophiussa, and its inhabitants the Ophi. The serpent-worshipping Ophis are believed to have been a Celtic culture. These areas were eventually conquered, settled and assimilated by Indo-European peoples, made up of two probable invasions, the first by Proto-Celts who became the celebrated Lusitanians and the second by more developed Celts. Phoenicians also settled in trading posts along the coast and may have had contact with the assumably proto-Celtic Lusitanians, who, along with the Celtic Gallaeci, Celtici, Conii and Turduli became the base of the modern Portuguese ethnicity and culture. The Lusitanians along with the Gallaeci developed the Castro culture at the time of their invasion by the legions of Rome.

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