Alto Alentejo
The region
Between Crato and Nisa, the Alto Alentejo unfolds in plain and cork-oak country, with castle villages, old thermal spas and the Tagus close by. Here we bring together what is worth visiting from our houses. At the table, migas and lamb stew, Nisa cheese and convent sweets.
Foto: Cardilio / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Mosteiro de Flor da Rosa
Crato
A fortified monastery from 1356, now a Pousada inn. Free entry.
Foto: autor desconhecido / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Anta do Tapadão
Crato
One of the largest dolmens in the country, in the Crato municipality.
Foto: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Portalegre e as Tapeçarias
Portalegre
The district capital and the museum of its celebrated tapestries.
Foto: Vitor Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Castelo de Amieira do Tejo
Amieira do Tejo
A 14th-century National Monument, with a keep over 20 m high.
Foto: Alvesgaspar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Castelo de Belver
Gavião
A Templar castle above the Tagus, halfway between hills and river.
Foto: Guy MOLL / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Varanda do Grão-Prior
Crato
The sixteenth-century loggia of the Grand Prior's Palace of the Order of Malta, Crato's best-known landmark.
Foto: Roundtheworld / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Ponte de Vila Formosa
Seda · Alter do Chão
A Roman bridge over the Seda stream, six arches and almost two thousand years old, on the old road to Alter do Chão.
Foto: © Museu do Sabão · Município de Gavião
Museu do Sabão
Belver · Gavião
In Belver's old primary school, one of the world's few soap museums, with workshops and a shop of handmade soaps.
Foto: © Município do Crato (cm-crato.pt)
Biblioteca Municipal do Crato
Crato
An eighteenth-century building that served as the town jail until the mid-twentieth century, now a library, exhibition gallery and internet space.
Foto: Alfredo Balreira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Cidade Romana de Ammaia
São Salvador da Aramenha · Marvão
The ruins of a Roman city at the foot of Marvão: the south gate, columns, baths and a small museum.
Foto: © Município do Crato (cm-crato.pt)
Museu Municipal do Crato
Crato
The archaeology and ethnography collection that tells the story of the municipality, in a manor house in town.
Foto: Roundtheworld / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Menir da Meada
Póvoa e Meadas · Castelo de Vide
The tallest menhir in the Iberian Peninsula, over seven metres high, standing alone among cork oaks for thousands of years.
Foto: FenandoLBMaria / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Castelo de Alter do Chão
Alter do Chão
A fourteenth-century castle built by order of King Pedro I, in the centre of town. A short hop from the royal stud farm.