Portugal

278
ALENTEJO & RIBATEJO
11
ESTREMOZ
ESSENTIALS
Arriving
BY TRAIN There is no train service to Estremoz.
BY BUS The bus station is at Rossio Marquês de Pombal (& 26/832-22-82). Three
buses arrive daily from Évora, 1 hour away; five buses a day arrive from Portalegre, 1 1 ⁄2
hours away.
BY CAR From Évora (see section 4), head northeast along Route 18.
EXPLORING THE TOWN
With enough promenading soldiers to man a garrison, the open quadrangle in the center
of the Lower Town is called the Rossio Marquês de Pombal. The Town Hall, with its
twin bell towers, opens onto this square. It has a grand stairway whose walls are lined
with antique blue-and-white tiles, depicting hunting, pastoral, and historical scenes.
In the 16th-century Igreja de Santa Maria (Church of St. Mary), you’ll see pictures
by Portuguese primitive painters. The church formed part of the ancient fortress. It is
open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30am to noon and 3 to 5pm. Admission is free.
Another church worth a stop is .6km (less than a half mile) south of the town on the
road to Bencatel. The Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Mártires (Church of Our Lady of
the Martyrs) has beautiful tiles and an entrance marked by a Manueline arch. Dating
from 1844, the church has a nave chevet after the French Gothic style of architecture.
Castelo da Rainha Santa Isabel From the ramparts of the Castle of Queen Saint
Isabel, which dates from the 13th-century reign of Dinis, the plains of Alentejo spread
out before you. Although one 75-year-old British lady reportedly walked it, the route to
the top is best covered by car. Drive to the top of the Upper Town and stop on Largo de
Dom Dinis. The stones of the castle, the cradle of the town’s past, were decaying so badly
that the city leaders pressed for its restoration in 1970. It was turned into a luxurious
pousada (see “Where to Stay,” below), the best place in town to stay or dine.
The castle’s imposing once-fortified tower, attached to a palace, dominates the central
plaza. Dinis’s wife, Isabella, died in the castle and was unofficially proclaimed a saint by her
local followers. Also opening onto the marble-and-stone-paved Largo are two modest chapels
and a church. As in medieval days, soldiers still walk the ramparts, guarding the fortress.
Admission is free for all. Nonguests can visit Tuesday through Sunday 9am to 5pm.
Largo de Dom Dinis. No phone for sightseeing information. (See “Where to Stay,” below, for hotel reservation
information.)
SHOPPING
The town’s most famous product is a type of traditional earthenware water jug. Known
as a moringue, it has two spouts, one handle, and sometimes a decorative crest that’s
stamped into the wet clay before it’s fired. At least half a dozen street merchants sell the
jugs in the town’s main square, Rossio Marquês de Pombal. Stylish reminders of Portugal’s
agrarian past, they’re associated with love and marriage. (Housewives traditionally
carried water in them to workers in the fields.) Some are simple; others are glazed in
bright colors.
At Artesanato, Avenida de São António (no phone), you’ll find hundreds of terracotta
figurines, another of the town’s specialties. Each represents an archetype from the
Alentejo workforce, and the designs include artfully naive depictions of washerwomen,
sausage makers, carpenters, priests, and broom makers. Artesanato also sells some of the
region’s other handicrafts, including metalwork, woodcarvings, and weavings.