Manueline architectural style

Synonymous with the town of Tomar in the heart of the Ribatejo region, the legendary Knights Templar played a very important role in the reconquest of Portugal in the 12th century.



Located on a 1,075-metre-high plateau on the north-east flank of the Estrela mountains in central Portugal, Guarda is a city of great historic interest and the highest place in the country.

Sitting comfortably on the north bank of the River Ave at the point where it gushes out into the Atlantic, Vila do Conde is an old ship-building town of high nobility still blessed with much of its former aristocratic charm.

The delightful old town of Alcochete is located on the south bank of the River Tagus, in close proximity to the Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve.

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.

Manueline is the style that marks the Portuguese artistic and architectural shift away from the late Gothic during the reign of King Manuel I (1469-1521).

Lying at the east end of a rocky range of mountains just 26 km west of Lisbon, the fairy-tale setting of Sintra is one of the oldest and most charming places in southern Europe.

Since the 1970s, the picturesque fishing town of Albufeira in the central coastal region has been the undisputed tourist capital of the Algarve, in winter as well as summer.

The great suspension bridge over the River Tagus opens the route to the scenic wonders of Lisbon’s southern shoreline, but the attractions are by no means confined to the coast.

North-east of Lisbon’s city centre in the ancient Xabregas district lies one of the most precious jewels in Portugal’s cultural crown, the magnificent Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum).

A man of rare taste and exceptional vision, good King Manuel I of Portugal ruled over the Portuguese Empire during the halcyon days of his country’s great Age of Discovery.

Standing on a ridge above the River Tagus, the historic town of Santarém is one of the oldest and most intriguing places in the centre of Portugal. Known as Scallabis by the Romans, it was once one of the strongest … Read more

One of Lisbon’s architectural treasures, the Casa dos Bicos (or House of Pointed Stones) stands just off the city’s main square, Praça do Comércio.