Discovering Portugal
Roughly rectangular in shape and with a population of around ten million people, Portugal has much to offer the modern visitor – young and old alike.
A Tower of Strength
Along with the imposing Castle of São Jorge, Lisbon’s strikingly eye-catching Tower of Belém is one of the city’s most iconic edifices. With its serene riverside location in the historic […]
A Seafaring Story
The history of Portugal’s ground-breaking association with the seas spanned a hundred years from 1415-1515. Widely labelled as the Age of Discovery, this epoch-making period saw Portuguese navigators sail across uncharted […]
Lisbon’s 184-Year-Old Secret
Portugal’s highly-regarded and much-savoured Pastel de Belém celebrates its 184th birthday this year, but its ingredients remain a closely guarded secret.
Admiring Lisbon’s Architecture
History has shaped the Portuguese capital with a succession of architectural influences over the centuries, most notably the Moors who occupied the city for more than four hundred years.
The Best of Belém
Taking a stroll down Lisbon‘s memory lane, through the historic square mile of Belém, the place from which Portugal‘s fearless adventurers set sail for unknown lands in the 15th and 16th centuries, is one of the […]
Lisbon Trivia
With thousands of years of history and one of the richest patrimonies in the whole of Europe, Lisbon is a city full of unique and fascinating snippets of information, so […]
Poetry in Commotion
Portugal’s most celebrated poet, Luís Vaz de Camões (c. 1524-1580), lived an extraordinarily eventful life by any stretch of the imagination. As a young man he fought in Morocco and paid […]
The Border Town of Elvas
Famous for its sugar plums, Elvas is also a citadel whose Spain-facing fortifications match those of Badajoz across the border a few kilometres away.
Signposts in the Sky
Looking upwards on a clear night, it’s difficult not to wonder how the heavens guided Portugal’s great discoverers towards new horizons in the late Middle Ages. By means of ancient […]