| Santa Bárbara de Padrões | |||
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| — Village — | |||
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Santa Bárbara de Padrões is a Portuguese town/parish within the boundaries of the municipality of Castro Verde, with 66.3 square kilometers of area and 1271 inhabitants (2009). Density: 19.2 inhabitants / km ².
The landscape of the parish provides a more rugged terrain than the rest of the county being an area of transition between the plains of the Sierra and the White Field of the Caldeirão.
The economic life of the parish is closely linked to the subsoil wealth mined at the Neves-Corvo mine that is part of the largest Pyrite belt of Europe, the Iberian Pyrite Belt.
Mine activity in this region goes back as far as 1700 B.C, with remains of mining structures dating back to Roman times when the area played a significant role in the expansion of Roman metallurgy. This southern area of Lusitania, being a Roman province for several centuries, was an abundant source of mineral ore which included Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin, Lead and Iron.
História e histórias-Castro Verde, Joaquim Boiça/Rui Mateus, Artinvento, Região de Turismo da Planicie Dourada/Câmara Municipal de Castro Verde; ISBN: 978-972-97418-9-0