Boticas, in the heart of Barroso, displays remarkable traces of antiquity, such as numerous Iron Age hill forts and the largest group of statues of Castro warriors on the Peninsula, all bearing witness to an organised society rich in agricultural and mineral resources. The exploitation of these mines attracted Roman interest, integrating the region into the Conventus Bracaraugustanus as early as the 1st century BC, through agreements formalised in the Tesserae (or tabulae hospitalis), which symbolised an equal relationship between local Castro leaders and representatives of the Empire.
É essa concórdia histórica que a Festa Castreja, anterior Hospitium Barrosorum – Pacto Barrosão, pretende evocar: recriando um espaço de convivência entre castrejos e romanos, com cenas e atividades que ressaltam a hospitalidade característica do Barroso – refletida mesmo na origem greco-romana do termo hospitium.
BOTICAS WENT BACK 2000 YEARS FOR ANOTHER EDITION OF FESTA CASTREJA.
A festa animou o parque florestal, junto ao Hillfort of Carvalhelhos, nos dias 9 e 10 de junho, com recriações históricas, animação de rua, gastronomia, oficinas de artes antigas, música, e uma caminhada.
Tiago Rodrigues
Born in Lisbon, he left the capital for a village in Barroso, where he has developed projects with various local institutions. He is a graphic designer and art editor at UMinho Editora. In 2017, he founded Terra Callaeci, a project dedicated to the promotion of the cultural landscape of Trás-os-Montes, as a construction of the people who inhabited (and inhabit) it.