Museums and Palaces

Bandarra House

The Bandarra House, a recreational, educational, and scientific interpretation centre, aims to preserve a memory that is part of the Portuguese identity, through the figure of the mystical poet Gonçalo Anes Bandarra (1500-1556). Born in Trancoso, he became known for his prophetic ballads, in which he announced the return of the missing King Sebastian of Portugal.

A shoemaker by trade, Bandarra was considered the Portuguese Nostradamus by Fernando Pessoa, a celebrated 20th-century poet. He inspired authors such as the famous Father António Vieira, a Jesuit who defended the end of discrimination between New Christians and Old Christians in the 17th century, and influenced much of the messianic thought in Portuguese culture.

He had a recognised social position, was well connected and many considered him a literary interpreter and religious leader. In 1541, he was tried by the Inquisition and forbidden to interpret the Bible or write about religion; it is uncertain whether he descended from Jews, but the unusual themes he dealt with were seen as marks of Judaism. He died in 1556 and is buried in the Igreja de São Pedro (St. Peter’s Church), in the historical centre of Trancoso.

In the courtyard of the House (located in the same street as the Centro de Interpretação da Cultura Judaica Isaac Cardoso (Isaac Cardoso Jewish Culture Interpretation Centre)), his ballads can be "heard" from the bottom of a well. In addition to oral testimonies from residents of the village where Bandarra took refuge after leaving the Inquisition, it is possible to access a reconstruction of his trial, reproductions of the Prose and various archive documents.