while Casével and Entradas won administrative autonomy. While mineral extraction continued to drive the economy, herding assumed a fundamental part of the regions economy as well. During the 16th and 17th Century, the Campos de Ourique became the destination for many herds from Castela and Serra da Estrela, creating a new economic, social and cultural dimension to the municipality. Although the human ecology of this territory has been marked by the settlement of many civilizations all based on mining, cereal cultivation and cattle/sheep grazing, it was only in the beginning of the 14th century that territories became organized as distinct economic entities within the new kingdom. During this post-reconquista era, the vast pasture-lands of the Castro Verde area were granted to nobility by King Denis (the Farmer King) which resulted in the management of thousands of hectares under rotational cultivation to become the bread basket of Portugal and the most important pastureland of the country. Over the centuries, the territory has been continually influenced by a transhumance which has left a unique cultural identity in the form of architecture, arts, music, song, and poetry expressing the daily activities of a people living on the land. In the middle of the 19th century, the surrounding municipal districts were reorganized and Castro Verde was formalized within its current boundaries: it had received its town charter (Foral) in 1510 by King Manuel I of Portugal. The municipality of Castro Verde developed its own particular cultural identity based on millenniums of interchange between cultural groups. From roots in mining and agricultural, the community has transformed into a city, with future plans focused on the integration of Roman and Islamic architecture in modern eco-architecture. Cultural tourism has resurged to keep alive traditional art, music and poetry indigenous to the territory. The year 2010 marked year-long festivities to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the town charters of Castro Verde and Casével. Geography Physical geography The Castro Verde area is made up of extensive areas of rolling hills, geomorphological structures referred to as a peneplains, which vary in altitude from 300 to 900 ft (100–300 m.) above sea level. The area has planar relief, with a medium altitude of approximately 200 metres; the lowest point is about 110 metres, in the civil parish of São Marcos da Atabueira, near the Ribeira de Cobres (in northeast frontier with the municipality of Beja). The highest point, at 299 metres,