“Alentejo always reminds me of an enormous sundial clock where Man is hand of time.” (Miguel Torga)

Beyond Tagus river (“Além do Tejo”)... Alentejo... the vastnesses of golden plains... Alentejo... immensity, landscape, tranquility, horizon, freedom, time, heat... Alentejo... a lovely watercolour... the pale green of the olive trees... the bright yellow of the wheat... the disturbing, pure and calm white of the houses whitewashed with lime... Alentejo... a mosaic of corn-fields... the immense Alentejo... the heart of Portugal... 

Alentejo, vast land of a rude and rural kind of beauty where the vigorous mountains from the North embrace the South’s boundless plains, is a land of  endless-dry Summers and wide horizons. It is, essentially, the strong, immense and disturbing landscape that renews itself each season in a palette of colours. It is the festival of colours that covers the plains in Spring, the golden yellows of the dry-scorching Summers, the shades of ocher in Autumn and the cold green of Winter, a palette of vibrant colours from which  “the thousand whites from the white of Alentejo that is never the same” stand out.

The serenity of Alentejo landscapes hides an unexpected heritage. A heritage that goes back to  prehistory and megalithic times, one that keeps vestiges from the Romans and their civilization, and holds the Arabs’ indelible legacy still visible in the language, arquitecture, farming and handicrafts. Alentejo is a rich region in archaeological sites, castles, churches, ancient mines, museums and small historic villages.

People from Alentejo are sweet, calm and tolerant, sincerely hospitable to anyone who passes through. A people that live by the slowness of time’s pace,  without hurry... a people that continuously stand out by the artistic and cultural legacy they perpetuate on their traditional customs and habits, handicrafts’ vivacity, gastronomy specialities, folklore songs and popular religious festivities – there is no Alentejo village that does not have its own religious festivity - these are essential moments on its people lives...

As essential is their gastronomy. A gastronomy of very strong and pleasant flavours, whose main character is bread, a constant presence in every meal, fundamental in the elaboration of the true typical Alentejo courses – “migas”, “açordas”, “ensopados” or “fatias douradas”. Alentejo’s cheeses and sausages, regional specialities, also play an important role on Alentejo’s gastronomy.

Excellent to complement Alentejo cuisine are its wines, red or white. By the sea coast, the fruit flavoured whites from Vidigueira are good to accompany fish courses. The traditional meat, hunting and codfish dishes demand rounded and flavoured reds from Évora, Reguengos or Portalegre.

Alentejo. Boundless plain.

“Alentejo is, in fact, the maximum and the minimum one can aspire to: the wilderness of an infinite dream and the reality of an exhausted land.” (Miguel Torga)

Festivities:

São João Fair, Évora, June
Museum Aberto, Monsaraz, July
Festival of Classic Music, Évora, July
Guadiana’s Week, Alandroal, May
Festival of the Vineyard and the Wine, Borba, November
Ovibeja, Agricultural and Industrial Fair and Animation, Beja, May