The Land of Touças is a not very extensive territory, occupied, as illustrated by the latest archaeological discoveries, from very early times, most likely, from recent prehistory and proto-history and with an evident human activity already in the Middle Ages and Modern Period. The archaeological excavations carried out to date, as part of a research project approved by the Directorate General for Portuguese Cultural Heritage (Direcção Geral do Património Cultural Português), show a much broader and more interesting reality than what would have been documented by Colonel Albino Pereira Lopo, a significantly relevant personality in the fields of description and inventory of the historical and archaeological heritage of a part of the region of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, in the northern interior of Portugal.

Colonel Albino Lopo, born in Estevais, in the municipality of Mogadouro, in 1860, visited the territories of Touças, just 400 meters to the northeast of the village of Garganta, a village of medieval foundation in the municipality of Sabrosa, in the month of August of 1912 and described, in part, a very interesting and fantastic reality. Albino Lopo, at that time, finds a place with enigmatic archaeological evidence, standing stones or granite stelae (about 20), a semi-detached tomb excavated in the rock, several granite sarcophagi and the reference, made by a local inhabitant, of the existence of an ancient chapel dedicated to Santa Maria de Ermes, which, even in those years of 1912, at the time of the visit, would not exist.

Albino Lopo also mentions the existence of an ancient landmark for the demarcation of territories, a granite landmark of the former Military and Religious Order of the Knights of Malta. This landmark still stands today after 246 years.

In fact, the “Terra das Touças and the millenary sanctuaries and ancestral symbolic landscapes in the domains of the Douro River” is a preserved place, a very small fertile valley, the “Vale das Donas”, between two granite mountains, the serra de Ludares and the serra do Meio, an ancestral “administrative” mark as it separates the municipalities of Sabrosa and Vila Real, across the Corva stream. The Land of Touças was also part of the ancestral “Land of Panoias” (Terra de Panoias), a comprehensive and important territory, still originating from the High Middle Ages.

It is in Terra das Touças, in the “Vale das Donas” that is located a fantastic historical and archaeological site, which today we designate as “Archaeological Site of the Medieval Necropolis of Touças”. Colonel Albino Pereira Lopo would also have designated the site, in his time, as “Moorish Cemetery” (Cemitério dos Mouros) or “Lusitanian-roman Cemetery” (cemitério Luso-romano).

The Medieval Necropolis of Touças is, above all, a sacred ancestral site, apparently linked to religious and mystical cults and tasks, both in pre-Roman times and during the Middle Ages. Imbued with a preserved environment, between the granites and the fertile valley, one can feel, in the place, an ancient energy, a symbolic presence, materialized in the various vestiges related to the religious world, the world of death, the various cults and rituals and the harmonious relationship with nature and the earth.

This story begins just 400 meters to the northeast of the medieval village of Garganta, in an ancient, very old time, in the surroundings of Vale das Donas, between the mountains of Ludares and the mountains of Meio, in the surroundings of the Demarcated Region of the Douro, Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it is there, naturally, that the “Medieval Necropolis of Touças” is located, an archaeological site with human activity since prehistoric and proto-historical times, with the possibility of including intense human activities already in the Middle Ages.

Firstly, the name “Touças” derives, most likely, from the existence, at the site of Touças, of an area on a small slope facing Northwest, where several young chestnut trees were located, a probable old chestnut tree, and, currently, a very dense gyestal. In fact, the word Touça or Touças refers to the existence of the so-called “chestnut tree feet”, from which small sticks or “Touças” grew, ancestrally used for the manufacture of bows and basketry.

It is then, the village of Garganta, a small village in one of the granite mountains of the municipality of Sabrosa (serra do Meio), whose foundation dates back to the 14th century and whose name given by popular ancestors, is, probably, coming from the geological and orographic specificities. of the region, a small valley or “throat”, in which the waters of the Corva stream flow and flow, in the northeast/southwest direction, which converge at Ponte de Anta, in the small population of Anta, west of S. Martinho de Anta, birthplace of writer Miguel Torga.

In fact, the historical territories of Touças are not restricted to the archaeological site of the Necrópole das Touças. Between Aldeia da Garganta and Aldeia de Vilar de Celas, “Celas” a very suggestive place name, which are the so-called megalithic territories, within which we highlight the existence of at least 5 tumulus or megalithic monuments of the tapir or dolmen type. , with the already excavated Mamoa das Madorras being the most emblematic.

The uniqueness of the archaeological site of the Medieval Necrópole das Touças established itself, from an early age, as a very interesting place, not only for the scientific research that has been carried out for almost two years, but also for implementing a series of cultural and scientific activities, which involve the youth community, students and the local community in initiatives to stimulate, enhance and promote the region's historical and cultural heritage.

It is then that, through the still scarce research results, a set of stories and historical realities evidenced by the material elements identified in the place, the stratigraphy and the artefactuial and structural component identified and studied.

Firstly, we must highlight the existence of a historic medieval quarry on the site. A historic quarry that presupposes a part of an operational chain for the manufacture of rock sarcophagi in granite, which, possibly, would be marketed to different places in the region. Essentially, this is the first workshop of medieval sarcophagi, identifying, in essence, almost all the phases of the operative chain, with material evidence of this chain. On the ground, during the archaeological prospection and excavation works, rectangular blocks in granite were identified, in situ, in the historic quarry, still to be transported, rectangular blocks in specific places of the workshop already regularized, blocks in which there is evidence of partial excavation. of the sarcophagus receptacle, sarcophagi already completely excavated and finished, double sarcophagi, among others.

In the surroundings of the same medieval workshop, during the excavation carried out, a structure in dry jointed stone with a rectangular outline was identified with about 6 meters of internal side, and the total extension has not yet been determined. This same structure is aligned in the Northwest/Southeast direction. The interesting aspect is that this structure is located in the exact place where Colonel Albino Pereira Lopo would have identified, through the description of a local inhabitant, the Chapel of Santa Maria de Ermes.

In fact, this story of ours does not end here. During the excavations and records carried out within the scope of the research project, more than 90 embedded stones or orthostats in granite with various shapes and sizes were identified, scattered throughout the project's area of ​​concern. Some of these orthostats, probably much older than the medieval occupation of the site, were adapted for the construction of the identified structure.

Even more interesting and motivating was the discovery of a relationship between some of these orthostats, forming possible alignments, with the point on the horizon where the Sun rises on the 21st of June of each year, that is, the alignment that originates the longest day of the year. year, the summer solstice.

Also noteworthy is the location of a historical document that refers the place to one of the most relevant and interesting times in the history of Portugal and the history of Europe itself: the time of the Crusades and the Christian reconquest of the territories and the settlement or repopulation of the territories. , be they new conquered territories or old territories. The document, a barter or barter letter, mentions that, at a certain point, around the 14th century, more specifically in 1305, on August 18th, King Dinis exchanged large properties and the rights charged on them. , thus retaining all the inheritances and rights that the Order of S. João do Hospital had in Sesmires, Vila Alba and Veiga de Cabril, with an annual income of 86 old morabitinos and 26 Portuguese soldiers for the villages of Abaças, in Vila Real, Abreiro and Garganta, in the former term of “Terras de Panóias”, with the respective rights in rem, in an estimated value equivalent to the aforementioned. In addition to these rights, in the case of the Garganta village, it would earn another 2 sous and a sheep.

The reference to this historical document refers directly to the material evidence of the presence of the military and religious order of the Knights of St. Malta, acquiring, of course, the designation of the Order of Malta. In the Necrópole das Touças, the material evidence of this ancient history is, in short, quite remarkable through the granite landmark of 1776 erected there in the 18th century but which, naturally, refers to old properties and domains of the ancestral order of Knights of Saint John of the Hospital of Jerusalem in the North of Douro river.

In any case, these indications of the presence of the Order of Malta in the territories of Sabrosa are not restricted to Terras das Touças and the village of Garganta, more than 8 demarcation marks of territories belonging to the Order of Malta were identified south of S. Martinho de Anta, Roalde, Paradela de Guiães and Vilarinho de S. Romão, making it possible to trace a perimeter of the properties of the old military order.

All this array of data, documents and findings and, above all, the raw evidence and the stories told allowed us to implement various activities to enhance, promote, disseminate and preserve the places. Among the most interesting activities, we highlight the creation and implementation of the character “O Druida”, a character who seeks, through a theater in “Terras das Touças”, to combine the importance of preserving nature, the environment and the natural world. with the millenary history of the site. On the other hand, the creation of an event designated as the medieval festival of the summer solstice, which takes place during the European Archaeological Days.

Increasingly, the preservation of heritage, its study and the transformation of scientific discourse into a pedagogical discourse, adapted to different age groups and populations is truly relevant and fundamental. In the last 20 to 30 years, we have witnessed a progressive lack of sensitivity, understanding and interest on the part of certain sectors of civil society in the importance and relevance of understanding their own history and all the internal, external, cultural, social factors , religious and economic that led to the consolidation of our present. Today, this lack of understanding of what history is and of the way in which all, all populations, all ethnic, religious and cultural groups contributed to society's progress and current stability. Education, health, science, technology, culture, the arts, everything, indeed everything, is the result, in one way or another, of the millenary contributions of the whole society. However, the lack of knowledge of history, of our history, of European history, allows small cleavages to be created based on common phrases and lack of knowledge.

Each new discovery, each new confirmation, each activity of promotion and valorization of new and old discoveries, the pedagogical discourse, the new technologies, the digitization of the heritage, the contact with young people and the dynamization of history allow, not only in Portugal but also across Europe, to bring young people a bit of our history so that, in the near future, they will be the ones who understand their present and plan their future, our future.

This story, this little story told, in part, based on archaeological and material testimonies, is a story that is repeated all over Europe, with the same Military Order of the Knights of Saint John of the Hospital of Jerusalem, the Knights of the Order of Malta, the builders of sarcophagi, medieval churches and chapels, artisans, medieval stonemasons and stonemasons, pre-Roman peoples, pagan cults of nature and the sun, in short, the history of Europe in this little corner from the village of Garganta, in Sabrosa, in the heart of the Douro Heritage of Humanity.