Miranda do Corvo

Miranda do Corvo is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Coimbra, with an area of 126.38km2 and 2011 population of 13,098 inhabitants.HistoryThe first reference to the region of Miranda do Corvo arrived at the end of the 10th century, although evidence of archaeological evidence to human settlement extend further back in history. The 10th century document that referenced these lands were associated with the Monastery of Lorvão in 998, that identified a military structure in Miranda do Corvo, that included tower. Today there is recognition that the settlement of Vila Nova occurred in pre-history and that Chão de Lamas during a proto-historical interval. Archaeological excavations around the Roman settlement of Eira Velha in Lamas also unearthed the vestiges of the agricultural community important along Roman roadways.The oldest settlement, in Alto do Calvário, suggests a period colonization dating to the Middle Ages, from dating of tombs and earthen burial excavation. Included in the discoveries were: a stone structure, from the end of the Middle Ages, that secured the access to the tower; a drop, composed of large ashlars slabs, dating to the 18th century (corresponding to part of the castle wall); a necropolis of graves dug into the rock, from the 12th century; the existence of two graves, located near the Cristo Rei statue, buried with the inscription that they were buries "in accordance with Islamic tradition, in right lateral decubitus, oriented to the East".The primary settlement of Miranda do Corvo developed around its castle which, owing to location and defensibility, guarded the access along the old Roman roadway that crossed Corvo and connected Sellium (Tomar) to Aeminium (Coimbra), as well as the interior of the western interior peninsula. Its all-encompassing position and vantage resulted in its adopting of the name "Miranda", from the Latin Mirandus (meaning "watchtower").