Casa das Jardas, rural tourism

The accommodation

Casa das Jardas is located 7 kilometres from the village of Idanha-a-Nova, right in the heart of Beira Baixa, in the east-central part of Portugal.
Here is where you can enjoy the tranquillity of life in the country, the purity of the Raia landscapes and the hospitality of the folks in Beira, lodging in a cosy, comfortable and familiar atmosphere.
We look forward to your visit. We will be most pleased to welcome you!

Casa das Jardas has 7 rooms/suites, one of which is a suite, all with a panoramic view of the Raia area, central heating,air condition, TV witn 100 channels, a complte game room and a beautiful swimming pool wih a big garden.
All the rooms have a rustic decoration.

Setting

Casa das Jardas lies in the district of Castelo Branco, near the border with Spain. Coming from the north of the country, you should travel towards Guarda, then Idanha/Spain.
Access from the south is via Castelo Branco, then Idanha/Spain.

Activities and attractions

The village of Idanha-a-Nova rises halfway up a slope that overlooks a broad plain called the "granary of Beira Baixa".

Her older "sister", Idanha-a-Velha, is a small village that seems to sleep among the olive groves, but whose historic past tells of its importance, as witnessed by the cathedral and numerous ruins, making it a living museum.

The municipality includes another historical "jewel": Monsanto, selected in 1938 as "the most Portuguese village in Portugal".
It deserves the title: perched on a granite slope, the houses appear stuck between enormous boulders, with miniscule gardens and plots of vegetables separated by rock walls and steps carved into the solid rock merging into it.
Historic villages of the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova

Monsanto "the most Portuguese village in Portugal"
A very ancient site, it bears record of human presence from the Palaeolithic era. Archaeological traces tell of a Lusitanian fortress and Roman villae and thermal baths. Due to the geography of the area and the intervention of man, visits can be made to curiously adapted grottoes and boulders fully converted into dwellings.

Penha Garcia
This village is impressive, due to its majestic position at the top of the quartzite crests of the range of hills by the same name. An old fortress, it was “a hideaway for fugitives” until the end of the 19th century.
Of its past glories, there still remain the castle, the parish church, the pillory and the cannons abandoned since the time of the French invasions.

Idanha-a-Velha
Known for its natural beauty and the historical vestiges it embraces, the village of Idanha-a-Velha was the capital of civicas Igaeditanorum in the Roman times.
Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Almortão
(Idanha-A-Nova)

Popular traditions and religious manifestations are deeply rooted in the municipality of Idanha-A-Nova. Throughout all the parishes of the municipality, there are feast days and pilgrimages in honour of various saints and the local patron saints. The most well-known pilgrimage is in honour of Our Lady of Almortão, which is always celebrated on the second Monday after Easter. Here one hears the famous sounds of the adufes (timbrels) played by the women of the municipality.

"Minha tão Linda Raiana, Virai costas a Castela, Não quereis ser castelhana"
(“My beautiful Raia girl, Turn your back on Castile, You don’t want to be Castilian”) are songs that have always attracted thousands of faithful who celebrate this beautiful tribute to Our Lady every year.

Cheese from Idanha-A-Nova

This cheese is one of the favourites of Portuguese consumers, being a very typical product of the Beira region. Most of the flock and producers of this type of cheese are found in the mountainous areas.

The manual process used in making these cheeses many times makes it difficult to market them more widely. This is the case of the Queijo Idanha-a-Nova, a genuine mountain cheese made from sheep's milk.