Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Alentejo Region
Southeastern Portugal is very sunny and very dry. The rolling plains of the Alentejo
(ah-len-TAY-zhoo) are dotted with large orchards and estates, Stone Age monoliths,
Roman aqueducts, Moorish-looking whitewashed villages, and thick-walled, mediev-
al Christian castles.
During the Christian reconquest of the country, Alentejo was the war zone. When
Christian conquerors were victorious over the Muslims, they turned over huge tracts
of recaptured land to the care of soldier-monks. These recipients came from various
religious-military orders, including the Knights Templar and the Order of Christ
(which Prince Henry the Navigator once headed—see the Prince Henry sidebar on
tugal's Age of Discovery.
Despite its royal past, the Alentejo (the land “beyond the River Tejo,” from the
Latin
alem Tejo
) is an unpretentious land of farmers. Having been irrigated since Ro-
man and Moorish times, the region is a major producer of wheat, cattle, wine... and
trees. You'll see cork trees (green leaves, knotted trunks, red underbark of recently
