[2] Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carvalho (1876–1951) wrote of the municipality of Tondela in the following terms: "The municipality of Tondela extends over the plateau, covers part of the eastern slope of Caramulo and surpassing the saw still slopes through the highlands of São João do Monte, over the gentle flanks of the upper Águeda basin.

In this way, the natural sections of your area are: part of the plateau, cut by the Dão and its effluents the Paiva and Dinha [rivers]; the depressed lands between the plateau and the Serra do Caramulo, drained by the Criz [River] and its effluents; a part of the eastern flanks of the Caramulanian mountains and elevated east around the Águeda basin; and I add, an extreme basin, with Quaternary deposits, that indicate small extinct lakes, along the Serra do Caramulo; and the Vale de Besteiros.

"In this context, the region of Tondela appears as one of the principal locations of archaeological remnants and concentrations of prehistoric populations.

Legend suggests this female figure represents a woman who monitored the movements of Moorish forces across the mountains from her lookout.

This designation arises from the word ballista, a ranged weapon used by besteiros ("crossbowmen") during the Middle Ages.