Castelo de Vide - The Sintra of Alentejo

I visited this town for the first time this year and surprisingly it was even prettier and nicer than I was expecting. It lies within the mountain range of Serra de São Mamede and has a micro climate, making is very lush, green, full of fruit trees and roses throughout the city and the valley where it is situated. A medieval stone wall is encircling the city and on the highest peak lies the castle, there is a burgo inside the castle (where the citizens lived before, extra protected by the inner walls) and a Judiaria (Jewish ghetto) where the Jewish population of the city had to stay and live in during medieval times and during the inquisition here in Portugal.

This region of Portugal has had a strong presence of Romans, Moors and Jews as well as being an important stronghold for the Portuguese when they fought against Spain during the Restoration War in the 1600's.  I do love the city heraldry where you will find the big castle surrounded by grapes and vines.Since the 1800's they've called the town the "Sintra of Alentejo", referring to the many gardens, lush greenery, old houses and castles that are a bit similar to Sintra. I agree they share many things in common but the architecture is actually a bit different in both places. The first things that you will feel as you approach the town is that the weather becomes cooler, just travel a couple km in any direction and it will turn a couple degrees warmer.

The town is not too big, a bit over 3000 people live here and you can easily get around on foot. If you pass by, make sure to have enough time to explore the castle and the old town surrounding it but it might take a whole day to have a proper look around. There are many small restaurants and cafés you can visit, everywhere there is this calm and cosy town feeling. No stress whatsoever in this part of the country, a precious thing nowadays in our busy lives. Some main spots to look at inside the city would be:

1. Castle and old burgo inside
2. Jewish ghetto and the synagogue
3. The Church of St Mary da Devesa
4. The gardens
5. The fortress of São Roque
6. The Calvary Church

Another lovely feature of this town are the many fountains, you can drink the water from them and it is one of the best qualities I've tried so far. Many of the houses are beautifully painted in white and yellow or white and blue, others show a yellow ochre colour or different shades of white in this region. You will find the tiniest cutest houses but also some quite big and fancy ones where some rich families must have lived in before. The streets are covered with granite cobble stones which are not too slippery thankfully and look very lovely in this medieval setting. Another lovely feature is the plants put out in the streets. The villagers are really making an effort in transforming this city into an oasis, hortensias and roses being the two most planted flowers. Everywhere you went in June you could feel a faint smell of roses in the air, it was very refreshing!

We stayed at INATEL hotel of Castelo de Vide, very central and quite priceworthy with a great view of the valley from our window. There are other places to stay at as well, both a bigger hotel and also very small ones in the old town for example so you can definitely enjoy your visit to this part of Portugal without a fuss. I'd say it is the perfect combo of nature and history in one go. If you are interested in local Arts & Crafts, have a look at this page:

http://www.castelodevide.pt/turismo/pt/ver-e-fazer/pecas-tradicionais/artesaos