Estremoz Hike
This is a Circular Easy Hike of 10 km (6.2 miles) The City of Estremoz is one of the Alentejo secrets. A City made of white marble, this natural resource has been exploited for 2000 years since the Romans. In Estremoz we’ll find Palaces, Convents and Monasteries built in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Estremoz as the best wine of the Alentejo with a tradition since medieval times. In the outskirts we'll find lots of vineyards connected by ancient paths and dotted with small churchs.
We start our walk in the main square or "Rossio" where we have the biggest market in Alentejo. Every Saturday morning, hundreds of vendors bring fruit, animals and all kinds of antiques to the city's square. Around the “Rossio” Square we’ll find local shops and cafes in Art Nouveau style. We'll walk through the 18th and 19th century City made of Palaces, Convents, Monasteries and Fountains made of white marble. We’ll find facades covered in tiles, balconies with beautiful iron works and the typical Portuguese pavement. On our way we'll find the medieval Pillory given by the king. This symbol of power meant that Estremoz had the right to collect taxes and punish people. Through a gate we'll go inside the medieval walled Village. We’re now walking through medieval narrow streets with Gothic and “Manuelino” doors. We’ll see the Jewish Quarter with a couple of “Mezuzah” and the jail. We'll go all the way to the highest point of Estremoz where we have the Castle. In the distance we can see “Serra d'Ossa”, the sacred hill of Alentejo. Around the city we have a Bulwark fortification from the 17th century. In Estremoz we have several buildings from this period: the Barracks where the soldiers stayed, the “Assento” that produced bread or the gunpowder magazine... Dominating the Castle we’ll find a Tower from the 14th century, 27 meters tall and all built in white marble. If we have energy we can go up to the Tower and see the views. In the same square we have the medieval “Paço da Audiencia” and the Church of “Santa Maria”. The latest hides a Popular Sanctuary with lots of carvings in the walls and may have been the former Mosque. We'll leave the medieval village and walk through typical neighborhoods from the 18th century. Through a gate of the 17th century bulwark fortification we began our adventure into the outskirts of Estremoz. We'll pass by a Temple dedicated to "Saint Lazarus", in the Middle Ages anyone with contagious diseases, such as leprosy, had to come and live here. We continued walking through vineyards until we reached the Church of "NS dos Olivais". Right next to this Temple we'll find a Dolmen, a burial chamber, from the Megalithic Culture. A 6000 year old monument from the Neolithic period. We returned to Estremoz passing through wineries, mills and surrounded by vineyards. We walk between walls of stone on paths called "Azinhagas" and "Canadas". We enter the city through a gate from the bulwark fortification and return to "Rossio".
By the end of our tour we can visit the Museums in restored Palaces from the 1800s. In the Tile Museum we have 5000 tiles from different periods and at the end....a wine tasting. We can also visit Workshops and a Museum for the local pottery of the “Figurado de Estremoz”. This local tradition is now World Heritage.
