Since prehistoric times this corner of the Portugal has been sought by mankind. Over half a hundred dolmens and menhirs - of which that Meada (Castelo de Vide), is the biggest of the Iberian Peninsula - bear witness to the exuberance of the megalithic culture. The Romans were to surprise the natives in their fortifications. They dislodged them and built on the best lands of the valley and plains the birthplace of our civilisation. History began with them. The Roman town of Ammaia (Marvão) and the Roman villa of Torre de Palma (Monforte), with their beautiful mosaics retell a little of the splendours of the Empire. Following the Barbarians, the Moors left their indelible imprint on the language, the agriculture, the military architecture (Elvas, Marvão) that the Christians from the North were able to assimilate and transform into anchors of Portuguese nationality. The castles and town walls of the Northern Alentejo - which form the country's most important group of fortifications - as well as the headquarters of the powerful military religious orders (Crato, Avis) constitute the eternal documentation of those disturbed times of the fight for independence. They now form a countless nucleus of historic centres unmatched in Portugal: Marvão - World Heritage candidate - Castelo de Vide, Portalegre, Crato, Alter do Chão, Campo Maior, Elvas. Touches of Manueline, Renaissance and Baroque erudition's were added ti their vernacular purity, in places, churches and convents, permitted by the centuries of the Discoveries.