Animals of Monsanto

Villagers here have always lived off the land. Wander Monsanto’s narrow paths and you’ll see shelters carved into the granite for pigs, chickens and other livestock, and it’s not uncommon to see shepherds leading their sheep and goats through the middle of the village. There’s even a tale about how one animal helped save Monsanto from invasion.

According to legend, during a year-long siege of the village, residents were down to their final cow and bag of wheat. They decided to feed all the wheat to the cow, and then heaved the fat animal from the ramparts of the castle down on their enemies. When the engorged animal splattered, the would-be invaders were amazed at how much food the besieged village still had and thought that if a lowly cow could remain healthy during a year-long attack, the village would surely survive, and they retreated.

While residents no longer toss cows, the event is still celebrated in a far less gory way each May during the Festa da Divina Santa Cruz de Monsanto, when villagers in traditional dress parade up to the citadel carrying a pot of flowers. When they reach the top, they break the pots open, letting the flowers spill down on onlookers below to commemorate and celebrate Monsanto’s survival.