Travel Portugal
Picture-perfect villages abound in the Alentejo. There’s often a steep climb up, after which you are rewarded with amazing panoramic views.
The Simple Life
By Fred J. Eckert
C
ork oak trees, ol ive trees, and wheat dominate the vast plains and gently rolling hills of the Alentejo. This may be Portugal’s largest province by far, covering one-third of the country—equal in land area to Belgium— but it’s home to relatively few people. Only 6 percent of Portugal’s population lives here. Our first base in the Alentejo region is the walled medieval city of Evora, the region’s largest town (population: 56,000) and one of the most beautiful cities in Portugal. Evora’s history is one of the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula. It has Roman walls, Moorish narrow streets and arched alleyways, Renaissance squares, fine churches and museums, and grand 16th-century buildings that were
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erected when it was a favorite spot for Portuguese royalty. All are well-preserved and should continue to be. Evora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its oldest site, dating back to the second or third PORTUGAL century, is the best-preserved Roman ruins in Portugal. The structure is believed to have been built as a place of worship and is said to have been dedicated to the goddess Diana, though Lisbon there is no solid evidence to support this claim. Alentejo Like most towns that were laid out in the Middle Ages, Evora is compact—an easy and enjoyable city to walk around. It’s particularly impressive at night. The Temple of Diana and other major monuments are illuminated with floodlights until midnight. The heart of town is Praça de Giraldo, an Alentejo is about eye-pleasing spacious square named for a two-hour drive from Lisbon. “Gerald the Fearless,” who liberated Evora from
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Off the beaten path in Alentejo, picture-perfect villages harbor enduring traditions
