Monsaraz

Monsaraz is a tiny medieval village of whitewashed houses and schist lanes, sitting on top of a hill in the Alentejo with the Alqueva lake spread out below it. The whole village is inside its walls. Cars stay in the car park outside, and you walk in through one of four gates, which already feels like entering a castle before you reach the actual castle at the far end.

For centuries the hill was a lookout over the Guadiana river and the border with Castile, now Spain. In 2017 it won the “monument villages” category of the 7 Wonders of Portugal villages contest. It’s also free to wander, which makes it an easy half-day with children.

Each gate has its own character, and finding all four gives children a mission:

• Porta da Vila, the main gate, guarded by two round towers and next to the clock tower. A stone plaque above its pointed arch was dedicated by King João IV in 1646.
• Porta de Évora, on the north side, facing the road to Évora and protected by a small tower.
• Porta do Buraco (“hole gate”), on the east side, next to the village’s old cistern.
• Porta da Alcoba, also on the east side, the quickest way to the village centre and the main church.

At the southern tip of the village is the castle, built in the 14th century in the reign of King Dinis. The regional tourism board lists it as always open, with no closing day, and there’s nothing to pay. Its keep stands at the south end, and from the walls there are wide views over the Alqueva lake and the flat Alentejo plain.

Inside, the old parade ground is almost round. Around 1830, after the army stopped using the castle, the villagers turned it into a bullring, with circular stone seating built into the walls and a sand floor. A traditional bullfight is still held there once a year during the village festival. The rest of the year the arena is empty, and children can stand in the middle and look up at the walls around them. Its acoustics suit concerts and theatre, and the space has toilets.

The castle has high walls and drops, so keep a firm hold on toddlers.

The Museu do Fresco is in the old town hall and courthouse, a 14th-century building that is a National Monument. In its old courtroom, a wall painting from the 15th century was hidden for centuries behind a brick partition and only found in 1958, during repair work. The tourism portal says it’s the only painting of its kind in Portugal on a non-religious subject.

The fresco shows two judges. The good judge, the local judge, holds a red rod and is guarded and blessed by angels. The bad judge, the outside judge sent by the Crown, holds a white rod and takes payments from both rich and poor: money from one side and partridges from the other. It’s usually read as a warning against corrupt justice, although it may also show how towns wanted to choose their own judges instead of having them imposed. Ask children to work out which judge is which before telling them, then talk about what makes a judge fair.

On Rua do Quebra-Costas stands a two-storey house with a tile panel, known as the Casa da Inquisição. Local stories say prisoners were tortured here, but the tourism portal says there’s no documentary proof. It may have been an archive or a temporary prison for people later tried by the Inquisition’s court in Évora. Today it’s the Centro Interativo da História Judaica, an interactive centre about Jewish history in Monsaraz. Older children can think about how a story grows when nobody writes the facts down.

One €1 ticket, for ages 12 and over, gets you into both the Museu do Fresco and the Casa da Inquisição. Both close on Mondays and at lunchtime.

The village’s history goes a long way back. It was taken from the Moors by Geraldo Sem Pavor (“Gerald the Fearless”) in 1167, lost again, and won back for good in 1232 by King Sancho II with help from the Knights Templar, who were given the village.

In the main square, the 16th-century Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Lagoa holds the marble tomb of a Templar knight, Gomes Martins Silvestre, the village’s first governor. Its front is carved with a funeral procession of 17 figures, which children can count. In front of the church stands the pillory, a marble column that showed the village could hold its own courts. Other things to look out for are the old cistern, said to have once been a mosque, and a small cube-shaped chapel, the Capela de São João Batista, nicknamed the Cuba.

The lanes are narrow, cobbled and steep, so a buggy is hard work and a baby carrier is easier. The Museu do Fresco has a step at the entrance, and the castle arena has only minimal accessibility.

The narrow lanes give some shade, but the Alentejo summer is fierce, with little shelter on the castle walls. Go early in the morning or in the late afternoon, and bring water and hats. The museums close from lunchtime until 14:00, so plan the fresco for the morning or mid-afternoon.

The countryside around Monsaraz is full of prehistoric standing stones. The Cromeleque do Xerez, near the Convento da Orada in the village of Telheiro, is a square arrangement of about 50 standing stones around a central one about 4 metres tall, raised between around 4000 and 2500 BC. When the Alqueva dam was going to flood its original site, it was moved, the only monument in the whole reservoir area to be relocated, and it was set up again in 2004. Children like knowing that a stone circle can move house. Nearby, the Menir da Bulhoa is a single standing stone about 4 metres tall, carved with sun symbols and zigzag lines.

At the foot of the hill there’s a small jetty on the lake, and about 4 kilometres away the nautical centre has the Praia Fluvial de Monsaraz, a lifeguarded river beach for a swim before or after the village. Across the water, Praia Fluvial de Mourão has a floating pool.

Monsaraz is at its best in the late afternoon. Walk the village as it cools down, eat, then head off for a stargazing session once it’s dark: the Observatório do Lago Alqueva and the Dark Sky Alqueva observatory at Cumeada are both nearby. To understand how the huge lake below came to exist, visit the Alqueva dam visitor centre. If your children liked the megaliths, the Cromeleque dos Almendres near Évora is one of the oldest stone circles in Europe.

Is Monsaraz free to visit?

Yes. The village and the castle are free and always open. Only the Museu do Fresco and the Casa da Inquisição charge, €1 for one ticket covering both, from age 12.

Can you take a buggy to Monsaraz?

It’s hard work. The lanes are steep and cobbled, so a baby carrier is much easier.

How long do you need in Monsaraz?

Two to three hours covers the village, the castle and the museums at a child’s pace. Add a swim at the river beach or an evening at an observatory to make a full day.

Is Monsaraz good in summer?

Only early or late in the day. The midday heat is strong and the castle walls have little shade, so plan the visit for the morning or the evening.

Is the Museu do Fresco open on Mondays?

No. It closes on Mondays and at lunchtime every day.