Beira Baixa

The delightful small town of BELMONTE springs one of the best surprises in the Beiras, a charming place of sun-dappled squares, stone houses dripping with window boxes and lazy dogs basking on the cobbles. There are curiosities at every turn, such as the unusual pillory in the shape of an olive press, or the fire-blackened tree stumps outside the castle, which are the site of Christmas Eve carols and gambols. Meanwhile, in the Zêzere river valley, which Belmonte overlooks, vast peach and cherry orchards splash a blaze of colour each spring.

For the Portuguese Belmonte is best known as the birthplace of Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467–1520), the “discoverer” of Brazil, who was born in the tidily restored castle overlooking town. Cabral’s father received the castle from Dom Afonso V, and adapted it as the family residence, though it later fell into disrepair. The Igreja de São Tiago, just outside the castle walls, contains the Cabral family pantheon (though not the tomb of Pedro Álvares, which is in Santarém), while one of two tiny stone chapels on a hillock opposite is inscribed with the Cabral family coat of arms – two goats within a shield. The Cabral trail also extends to the main through-road named in his honour where there’s a statue of the explorer clutching a large cross.

Belmonte’s restored Jewish quarter is tucked below the southern wall of the castle. Belmonte once maintained one of Portugal’s largest Jewish communities and records show that there was a synagogue here as early as 1297, but this fell into ruins after the Inquisition, when many Jews fled the country or were forced to convert to being “New Christians”. The modern Sinagoga built in the Jewish quarter is now open for visits, while behind Largo do Pelourinho in the old town the Museu Judaico, Rua da Portela, explores the history of Portuguese Judaism.

Along the main Rua Pedro Álvares Cabral you’ll find the other town museums. Start with the interpretation centre, À Descoberta do Novo Mundo, installed in the former Cabral palace, across from the town hall, which covers the New World discoveries of Cabral and others. Opposite lies the Ecomuseu do Zêzere, housed in a barn-like granite building, formerly a granary owned by the Cabral family. This provides the natural and geological background on the Zêzere River, while for an investigation of the local olive oil industry, follow the signs around the corner to the Museu do Azeite, housed in the former municipal olive-oil press.

Twenty kilometres east of Belmonte, the amazing circuit of walls around SORTELHA rises amid an unearthly, undulating highland plateau strewn with giant glacial boulders. It’s an ancient place, with Hispano-Arabic origins, and for most of its existence has gone about its business quietly, though the rock-built fortress suggests some frontier excitement in times past. Today it presents itself as a museum piece – with some beautifully restored lodgings available – since the number of permanent residents in the old town barely struggles into double figures. From the modern quarters on the Sabugal road it’s a five-minute walk uphill (follow “Castelo” signposts) to the fascinating walled old town – or you can drive up and park outside the main gate. A tight web of cobbled lanes wends between squat stone houses with red-tiled roofs, while rough carved steps in the castle keep offer a grandstand view over the valley below and the rock-speckled hillsides beyond.

Between Sabugal and Penamacor, and reaching east from two local reservoirs to the Spanish border, spreads the Reserva Natural da Serra da Malcata (wwww.icnb.pt). It’s one of the least-visited Portuguese nature reserves – access isn’t easy, and you really need to bike or hike to get much out of it – but it rewards the effort. If you’re fortunate, you might just see a wild boar disappearing into the forests of black oak, or catch a glimpse of the magnificent golden eagle or black vulture. What you won’t see – despite the emblem on all the promotional material – is the Iberian lynx, which is under serious threat of extinction. The last lynx was caught in the park in 1992, and there’s been no sign of one now for over a decade – though they are still present on the Spanish side of the border.

The reserve covers 16,000 hectares of heather-clad hills and oak woodland, with the reserve headquarters found in Penamacor. They can usually rustle up an English-speaking member of staff, and the office also sells a map and separate walking booklet in English. Note that not all the hiking trails are currently signposted, as neglect, forest fires and vandalism have taken their toll – but you can always follow our directions instead.

Ancient MONSANTO jealously guards its title of the “most Portuguese” village in the country, an award originally bestowed in 1948. Sited high on a hill above the plain, its houses huddle between giant granite outcrops, their walls moulded around enormous grey boulders – in the case of the Casa de Uma Só Telha (“the house with only one tile”), the entire roof is formed from a single rock. A few houses lie abandoned, but on the whole Monsanto seems to be doing well from Spanish day-trippers and from tourists still searching for the “real” Portugal.

A leaflet available from the turismo dutifully details every church, chapel, cross, decayed mansion and restored fountain. The main cobbled path heads up to the castle, 700m up and offering remarkable views across the parched plains to the distant mountains. A big celebration takes place every May 3 (or the following Sunday), when villagers throw baskets of flowers off the ramparts. The rite commemorates an ancient siege when, in desperation and close to starvation, the defenders threw their last calf over the walls: their attackers, so disheartened at this evidence of plenty within, gave up and went home.

There’s an enjoyable walk through Monsanto, which leads you around the castle and rock outcrops in a couple of hours, also dropping down to São Pedro de Vir-à-Corça chapel, in a grotto of cork trees below the crags. You’ll pick up the walk-posts all over town, and there’s an information board outside the turismo.

The tiny backwater of IDANHA-A-VELHA is 15km south of Monsanto by road, though closer by footpath. It was once a major Roman city of the first century BC and, subsequently, under Visigothic rule, “Egitânia” was the seat of a bishopric – Wamba (620–680 AD), the legendary King of the Goths, is said to have been born here. During the reign of Dom Manuel, however, early in the fifteenth century, it is said that a plague of rats forced the occupants to move to Monsanto or nearby Idanha-a-Nova.

The village looks much as it must have done when the rats moved in, and perhaps not very different from when the Romans left, either. Set amid burned plains and olive groves, it’s still partly girded by a massive Roman wall. Down by the languid river the Roman bridge is still in use, while roses and vines are trained up the weathered walls of the houses, many built from plundered Roman stone. A stork’s nest tops the ancient basilica – signposted as the Sé – while outside here stand the ruins of the bishop’s palace and an even earlier Roman house. Perhaps the most fascinating restoration is of the old oil press or Lagar de Varas, with an ingenious pressing system utilizing two huge tree trunks, with roots intact.

People do live in Idana-a-Velha – grazing sheep on the plains and tending allotments down by the river – but it often seems almost deserted. You’ll generally find someone at least in the turismo behind the Lagar. The basilica and the olive-oil-press building should be open during office hours, but if not, just ask. There’s a café by the pelourinho but the nearest restaurants and accommodation are in Idanha-a-Nova, 15km to the southwest.

There’s no public transport to the village, although there is a great footpath from Monsanto (7km, 2hr). Walk down to the São Pedro de Vir-à-Corça chapel from Monsanto (red-yellow marks) and, behind the chapel, pick up the red-white markers that run down ancient tracks, through cork and olive groves, to Idanha-a-Velha. You wouldn’t want to walk back uphill, though, so arrange a taxi in Monsanto first.

As capital of the Beira Baixa, CASTELO BRANCO has an air of prosperity in contrast with many of the nearby villages. Unfortunately, that is about all it has – for the visitor at least – since little of interest survived the successive wars of this frontier area. The sixteenth-century former town hall and a few handsome mansions withstood the various battles, while narrow cobbled alleyways and stepped side streets lead up to the castle ruins, where a garden miradouro has been laid out. Otherwise, it’s a predominantly modern town of sweeping boulevards, squares and parks – pleasant enough, but hardly a major draw.

There are just two sights of note. Flanking one side of the remaining old town is the Jardim do Paço Episcopal, the eighteenth-century garden of the old bishop’s palace, where the balustrades of the two grand staircases are peopled with statues – on one, the Apostles; on the other, the kings of Portugal. Three of the latter are much smaller than the rest: the hated Spanish rulers, Felipe I, II and III, the so-called “intruder kings”. The palace itself now houses the Museu Tavares Proença Júnior, whose pride is its large display of finely embroidered bedspreads, or colchas. These lavish status symbols were originally produced in India and China where wealthy Portuguese commissioned them from local artisans. The craftspeople duly incorporated motifs from their own myths and culture – typically animals, flowers and mythical figures – which subsequently influenced Portuguese manufacturers in Castelo Branco.