Cultural Alentejo

Transfer from Évora train or bus station.

We’ll start our incursion with “Lost Évora” – an unique way to discover the historical and artistic heritage of an Evora that no longer exists, on a pedestrian trail through convents, churches and other destroyed or fragmented spaces, “victims” of late 19th century progress: “armed” with photographs from over 100 years ago, we discover a disappeared Évora World Heritage Site.

We’ll finish with a regional wine tasting.

Free dinner.

Accommodation at “The Noble House” or “M’AR De AR Muralhas”.

Morning
At the Estremoz anticline, we learn about Alentejo’s white gold: we will start the Shadows of Marble Route with a visit to two quarries which are part of the Rosa Portugal national reserve. Marble has been extracted here for over 50 years, at a depth of 110 meters. From extration to transformation: we’ll enter in one of the anticline’s factories, where the large marble blocks are cut into simple cobblestones, ending in their artistic use on Vila Viçosa cultural heritage.

Wine and olive oil tasting at “Cooperativa de Borba”.

Lunch
Lunch at “Os Cucos”, in Vila Viçosa, where we will taste the local starters, Roasted pork cheeks, traditional desserts and regional wine.

Afternoon
We’ll return to Évora and spend the rest of the afternoon in the “capital” of Alentejo.

Free dinner.

Accommodation at “The Noble House” or “M’AR De AR Muralhas”.

Morning
To start off, we’ll travel back seven thousand years, to the Neolithic, when “Almendres Cromlech” was built: an enchanting place shrouded in mystery and one of the must-visit attractions in the region.

“Montado’s ecosystem” is the natural heritage of the Alentejo par excellence: visit to the “Herdade do Freixo do Meio”, a local 440ha estate of “Montado” (cork tree field), we take a guided tour through the cork oak      forest to understand how this complex, but sustainable ecosystem isorganized,from the cork oak, to the holmoak, to the blackpig…

Lunch
As we are in the countryside and in Alentejo we can’t leave without trying the “Cozido de grão“ (boiled chick-peas), cooked in clay pots and a wood-fired oven, with natural ingredients and wine from the estate. The dessert is the traditional “Sericaia“ and fruit. 

Afternoon
Off to Alcáçovas, where we’ll discover the “Arte Chocalheira” (cowbell manufacture), classified by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. At the “Pardalinho” Rattle Factory, we’ll learn to bend and mold the metal sheet, to cover it in copper using the furnace, and to tune this “audible GPS”.

Dinner
In Alvito, we’ll sit down on benches. ‘Silence…’ and we’ll listen to the voices of Alentejo, in an exclusive performance of “Cante Alentejano“, which is also Intangible Cultural Heritage. In addition, we’ll have local tapas, “Açorda de bacalhau” (cod fish stew), homemade cake, coffee and local wine.

Accommodation at “Pousada Castelo de Alvito” or “São Brás do Regedouro”.

Morning
Pedestrian walk in a 100% rural Alentejo territory, about 35 minutes from Évora, the 2nd smallest municipality in Portugal mainland, 2282 souls and a virtually untouched heritage since the 15th century. We will enter the Alvito Mother Church from the 14th century and discovered a late 15th century Renaissance fresco. We’ll walk through the largest set of Manueline portals of Baixo Alentejo, passing through the City Hall, the Pillory and entering the “Paço Acastelado” of the 1st Baron of Portugal. Finally, crossing “Largo das Alcaçarias”, we enter the “Ermida de S. Sebastião“, a late-Gothic chapel lined with frescoes from 1611, with celestial musician angels in the vaults…

Time to unveil the “Ermida de S. Neutel and Santa Águeda“ (already belonging to the other lands of Baronia…), the “sea” that stretches before it and the profusion of colors, shapes and stories that are stored in its more than 5 successive campaigns of fresh mural painting: unique.

Lunch
At “O Casão”, we can relax while we eat regional starters, “Sopa de Cação” (dogfish soup), dessert, drinks and coffee.

Afternoon
Onwards to Viana do Alentejo, to get to know some handicrafts with the potter Feliciano Agostinho… With him, we’ll learn the secrets of the famous Viana pottery.

Free dinner.

Accommodation at “Pousada Castelo de Alvito” or “São Brás do Regedouro”.

Morning
Visit to one of the biggest engineering work made in Alentejo, the Alqueva Dam, followed by a visit to CIAL (Alqueva Interpretation Center) to get to know the magnitude and impact that this work had to the region.

We’ll continue our day in a boat ride in the lake, enjoying the calm waters of the biggest artificial lake in Europe.

Lunch
We’ll dock on the banks of Alqueva to make a relaxed pic-nic with regional products and breathtaking views.

Afternoon
Transfer to the Évora bus/ train station.