The Castro de Monte Mozinho is a Neolithic walled town, also known as the City of the Dead, located in the civil parish of Oldrões, municipality of Penafiel in the Tâmega Subregion district of Porto.
Monte Mozinho is a fortified settlement with three lines of walls, perched on a hill and covering an area of more than 200.000 m2. Its urban architecture mixes the heritage of hill forts with Roman civilization, as seen by the courtyard homes with circular forms and foyers and the regular street arrangement. This settlement was occupied for a rather lengthy period of time, between the first and fifth centuries.
This is one of the celtic settlements named Citânia do Monte Mozinho, located approximately 8 kilometres from Penafiel. It is perhaps the largest in the Iberian Peninsula. It is located at a high point on the mountain, at an elevation of 408 metres. From there, one can see the Maro Mountain (to the east) and the Montemuro Mountain (to the west) (to the South). The excavations began in 1943 by Elsio Ferreira. After a 20-year hiatus, they resumed in 1974, and the results may be seen in the Municipal Museum of Penafiel. The discoveries corroborate the presence of a Roman-era occupancy, with a specific emphasis on the warrior statues and amphorae. The “castro” was erected in 19 BC, after the Roman invasion was completed, and formerly had a 20-ha walled area. The settlement was gradually abandoned and lost its prominence after the second century AD.
