Castelo Branco

Castelo Branco grew on the slopes of the hill of Cardosa, beneath a castle associated with the Knights Templar. Land here was donated to the order in 1182, and the settlement received a charter in 1213. The Templars built walls and a castle as the town took shape. Manuel I granted a new charter in 1510, while a Jewish community survived after the forced conversions of the late fifteenth century through families who secretly kept elements of their faith. In 1771 Castelo Branco became a city and a bishop's seat.