Estremoz

ESTREMOZ, 46km northeast of Évora, is the largest, liveliest and most enjoyable of the three so-called “marble towns” – nearby Borba and Vila Viçosa are the others. The area is so rich in marble that it is used extensively in the most commonplace surroundings, something that’s immediately obvious in the marble streets, squares and fountains of amiable Estremoz. In its heyday the walled market town was ten times its current size (today’s population is around fifteen thousand), and on the hill within the star-shaped ramparts of the upper town stands the former palace of Dom Dinis, the king famous for his administrative, economic and military reforms. Meanwhile, below, on the Rossio, the vast main square of the lower town, the Saturday market still drives the local economy, selling – among many other things – what are renowned as some of the best cheeses in Portugal. It starts and finishes early, so it pays to stay over on Friday night if you can. Otherwise, the Rossio is the site of Estremoz’s annual festival (first weekend in Sept), while at the start of May is the huge five-day agricultural shindig known as the Feira Internacional de Agricultura e Pecuária (wpeb.pt/evento.php?id=306), which mixes cattle shows, concerts and handicrafts (including displays of the earthenware pottery for which the town has been celebrated since the sixteenth century).