Portuguese painting first came to prominence in the 15th century. In 1428, when Jan van Eyck visited Portugal for the marriage of King João I’s daughter Isabella to Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, it marked the beginning of a long and close … Read more
Perched high on a line of hills near the Serra da Estrela mountains of central Portugal, Belmonte is a medieval village of considerable charm commanded by an imposing 13th-century granite castle.
Uniquely situated behind a long offshore sandbank, the Ria de Aveiro stretches for about 45 km between Ovar to the north and Mira to the south, reaching a width of about 10 km at its widest point.
Devastated by a succession of earthquakes over the centuries, Setúbal is rich in relics of the past and nowadays is one of the busiest ports on Lisbon‘s southern shoreline.
Known as the Venice of Portugal, Aveiro is surrounded by salt-flats, beaches and lagoons and dominated by the Central Canal running through the centre of town.
The great Dominican monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória in the small town of Batalha, central Portugal, isn’t just a national shrine but one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe.
The beating heart of Sintra is without doubt its magnificent royal palace, the Paço Real, located on the town’s main square.