Marvao: The Town

We have seen our share of hill towns, and I think Marvao may well have been the best. It is interesting, clean, amply explained in signage, not over-run by tourists (just indies) nor trinket shoppes. There are a few cafes and restaurants, a few B&Bs or boutique hotels, but mostly just a town that has the amenities and excels in self-regard. Not a lot of traffic, either, although what there is is well-managed and mostly kept outside the walls.

Several old gates lead into the town

Cruel and unusual punishments occurred here;
executions without the walls

Bridge to property across the alley

Street scene

Bridge to one's rooftop garden across the alley

Portuguese version of a vespasian

Manueline window 

Nice views

Town from the castle

Beautifully manicured public park; note the cork tree has been
de-corked

View of castle from garden

Church converted to municipal museum

Everything's up to date...

A self-regarding place: historical plaques all over

A Manueline door one one of the very few
disused buildings

Futbol field at the school

Parque infantil

Inside the main church

Beautiful private and public landscaping all over

Nice views

A little topiary lining the street

Back door

Bug's-eye view of wildflowers

Another great visit!

Marvao: The Castle

We drove on to Marvao, a castle/fortified hill town that dates from Moorish times. The fortress was enlarged and strengthened as it changed hands and through the centuries. Being just a few miles from Spain, its main purpose in later centuries was defense against the far larger and more powerful nation to the east. The hill-side aire at Marvao was full, so we spent the night in a quiet lay-by a kilometer or so down the hill.

Marvao, the castle on the left, the town on the right, mostly; all on a lofty crag

The castle part

Approaching the castle

En foot

A double-curtained affair

Steps down to cistern, said to be six months' worth

Approaching inner castle, keep

Nice little all-weather look-out booths all around

Looking back to the town, which is entirely within the outer curtain

Nice views

Castle do Vide, 5-6 miles away

Spain across the mountains

Gunner's view

Dam and reservoir, one of many in interior Portugal

Keep and curtains

The whole fortress was covered in earwigs, dead and alive, reminding me a bit
of Nemrut Doghi and its hordes of lady bugs

Impressive castle, very much intact, very well signed

Anta Do Tapadao

Now in the northern Alentaje, there was another huge dolmen to see, the Anta do Tapadao. This one was relatively easy to find, signed, even, and on a paved road. We have been very impressed by megalithic Portugal, both by the numerous sites and by their relative accessibility. The Alentaje was a megalithic center no less than the other great ones, and much remains to be discovered and understood.

The Alentaje west of the mountainous border with Spain is a big rock wonderland,
glaciers passing by, leaving huge rocks, precariously balanced sometimes, beached
whales, and other zoomorphic curiosities, we speculate; and, perhaps, easy work
for the megalith builders

This goes on for miles upon miles

Typical

Anyhow, after closing the gate and walking a bit, there is the day's megalithic goal,
the great Anta do Tapadao

Right next to it, a zoomorphic wonder, the Dragon of San Miguel (it's a dragon's
head, snout to the right, an eye in the center...)

Anyhow, back to the Anta, which is huge

A very deep chamber

Capstone

Me, for scale; the thing is a monster

Terrain

Vicki by the dragon

Entrance to the dolmen

Other views

The Dragon again