A Secret History of Portugal - A Collection of Portuguese Legends, Folklore, and Unofficial Stories Across the Centuries #960933

Discover the hidden side of Portugal — a rich tapestry of legends, folklore, mysteries, and forgotten tales that reveal a secret history rarely told in textbooks.
A Secret History of Portugal: A Collection of Portuguese Legends, Folklore, and Unofficial Stories Across the Centuries invites the reader to journey through the myths and narratives that shaped the nation’s identity. From ancient Iberian deities to medieval kings, forbidden romances, miraculous tales, phantom islands, explorers, saints, poets, and unexplained curiosities, this book uncovers the stories that lived between history and imagination.
Inside these pages, you will explore:  

• Ancient and pre-Portuguese myths — serpent-people near Lisbon, forgotten gods of Lusitania, and the mysterious origins of the land before Portugal existed.
• Founding legends — Afonso Henriques, battles surrounded by miracles, and the symbolic stories that later shaped national identity.
• Medieval secrets — hidden tunnels, tragic love affairs, royal scandals, prophetic dreams, and tales once whispered more than written.
• The Age of Discoveries — phantom islands, lost maps, strange visions, cultural exchanges, and legends born from Portugal’s voyages across the world.
• Disaster and Reconstruction — The great earthquake of 1755, the curse of the Távora family, and the rise of peculiar 19th-century figures like the alleged "serial killer of the Aqueduct."
• The "False" Monuments of the 20th Century — How the dictatorship rebuilt famous castles to look "more medieval," plus the secrets of spies, exiles, and hidden locations.
• Modern Mysteries — From the encoded radio songs that launched the 1974 Revolution to contemporary urban legends, including a Disney castle in Sintra and giant pythons in abandoned factories.
• And much, much more...

Blending careful research with the charm of oral tradition, this book reveals Portugal’s past and present through the stories people truly remembered — the unofficial narratives that survived in villages, chronicles, folklore, and collective memory.
For readers who love history, mythology, culture, and mystery, this is an essential journey into the secret soul of Portugal.