The Alentejo

The Alentejo is one of the largest of the Portuguese provinces. The open rolling countryside is a landscape speckled with cork, oak and olive groves, vineyards and wheat, grazing sheep and field after field of wild flowers creating a kaleidoscope of colour.

This is a land of agricultural traditions, commonly known as the "bread basket" of Portugal, a fitting title for the vast open countryside, undulating plains and rich fertile soil. With very few exceptions all the major towns are reliant on agriculture, livestock and wood.

The Alto-Alentejo covers most of the central part of the country bordered by the River Tagus in the North, Spain in the East, Portel and the Vidigueira hills in the South, and Vendas Novas and Coruche in the West. The Baixo (lower) Alentejo extends south to the Algarve hills.

Here you'll find exceptional wine and food and unforgettable sights. The vast golden plains and peaceful landscape is a curtain that opens on to an unimaginable heritage. Magnificent walled towns and hilltop forts are legacies from past centuries.

There are festivals for everything - religious holidays, horses, agriculture, wine! Each town has its own unique way of celebrating. Redondo has a flower festival every two years where streets are bedecked in paper flowers and the occasion is marked with processions, folk dancing, singing, and bullfights.

Évora is the capital of the Alto-Alentejo region and the city is one of the architectural gems of Portugal. The walled town is rich in history, ruins and historic buildings. Proclaimed by UNESCO as a ‘World Heritage Site’ the city is largely preserved in its former glory. Its Roman temple, Moorish alleys and beautiful churches provide an atmospheric setting. The focal point of the town is the Praça do Giraldo, and its attractions include the Sé (cathedral), which has a museum of ecclesiastical treasures; the picturesque Templo Romano; and the Igreja de São Francisco, which contains a ghoulish ossuary chapel constructed with bones and skulls!

Around Évora are the villages and towns of Monsaraz, Vila Viçosa, Estremoz, and Arraiolos, which is renowned for its hand made tapestries, based on traditional drawings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Alentejo region, formerly known for cork-trees, today produces some of the most delicious wines and is famous for its rich dark coloured reds with fruity balanced characters. The Alentejo has the famous cellar-keeper Joao Ramos to thank for its status. Almost a third of Portugal’s growing area is in the Alentejo, in the south. The climate is rich in sun and the cool Atlantic winds make the region very suitable for viniculture.

The Alentejo is split into eight areas: Portalegre (red wine area with own micro-climate), Borba (red wines dominate, known for its marble quarry), Redondo (granite and slate soils), Reguengos (mostly granite soils), and Vidigueira (old wine region with long tradition) with DOC-status, as well as Évora, Mora, and Granja/Amareleja with IPR classification.

Portugal has received Stateside praise for its wine and cheese from this region. The modest backwater is in vogue since The New York Times wine tasting panel tasted 22 wines from the region with the Alentejan Esporão Estates Reserva 1999 receiving the highest accolade. They also heaped praise on cheese from the country saying, “The latest foreign cheeses of the moment are from the Alentejo in Portugal with most of them possessing amazingly complex and unexpected flavours."

This is an area of Portugal which has remained virtually unchanged by modern tourism. The rural way of life has stayed much the same for centuries and generations of farming folk still go about their daily lives almost untouched by the busy world about them.