Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Alentejo Highlights
Sample the history, culture and cuisine of historically rich
Évora
(
Click here
), a Unesco World Heritage-listed
city
Walk the coastal or inland sections of the
Rota Vicentina
(
Click here
) and stop overnight in
Vila Nova de Milf-
ontes
(
Click here
)
Watch the shadows play on the megaliths at
Cromeleque dos Almendres
(
Click here
) and
Monsaraz
(
Click
here
)
Stroll with spirits of past civilisations and religions in
Mértola
(
Click here
)
Gaze out over the countryside from the castle perches of enchanting
Marvão
(
Click here
) and
Castelo de Vide
(
Click here
)
History
Prehistoric Alentejo was a busy place, and even today it is still covered in megaliths. But it
was the Romans who stamped and shaped the landscape, introducing vines, wheat and
olives, building dams and irrigation schemes and founding huge estates called
latifúndios
to make the most of the region's limited rivers and poor soil for agriculture.
The Moors, arriving in the early 8th century, took Roman irrigation further and intro-
duced new crops such as citrus and rice. By 1279 they were on the run to southern Spain or
forced to live in
mouraria
(segregated Moorish quarters) outside town walls. Many of their
hilltop citadels were later reinforced by Dom Dinis, who created a chain of spectacular
fortresses along the Spanish border.
Despite Roman and Moorish development, the Alentejo remained agriculturally poor
and backward - increasingly so when the Age of Discoveries led to an explosive growth in
maritime trade, and seaports became sexy. Only Évora flourished, under the royal patron-
age of the House of Avis, but it too declined once the Spanish seized the throne in 1580.
During the 1974 revolution Alentejo suddenly stepped into the limelight: landless rural
workers who had laboured on the
latifúndios
for generations rose in support of the com-
munist rebellion and seized the land from its owners. Nearly 1000 estates were collectiv-
ised, although few succeeded and all were gradually re-privatised in the 1980s. Most are
now back in the hands of their original owners.
Today Alentejo remains among Europe's poorest and emptiest regions. Portugal's entry
into the EU (and its demanding regulations), increasing mechanisation, successive droughts
and greater opportunities elsewhere have hit the region hard. Young people have headed for
