Construction of a walled village began in the eighth century on a hill about 80 kilometers to the north of Lisbon. Originally a Moorish town, it was captured by the Portuguese and its wall and castle underwent significant renovation. Although the 1755 earthquake caused significant damage, the wall, castle and medieval streets still exist.

Unfortunately, our visit coincided with the annual Medieval Market, two weeks in which the town transforms into a festival with medieval costumes and customs everywhere. While that sounds like fun, and to some extent it is, it also makes the town feel a bit like a Disneyland attraction, teeming with tourists (both Portuguese and foreign) crowding almost everything. It’s a good thing for the town, bringing money into an area that doesn’t have much beyond agriculture and tourism.

The hilltop location means terrific views of the pastoral valleys that surround Óbidos, with farms popping up beyond the rooftops. There’s vineyards and undoubtably olive trees.

The castle is impressive, with towers and a walkway across the top that is populated with visitors. Although well-preserved, there are places, especially the steps up and down, that feel less than secure.

What does keep Óbidos from going full-on DIsneyland are the occasional views of the castle intermingling with the lives of the residents. As with everywhere in Portugal, including the heart of the cities, laundry is hung outside as dryers are rare. What an amazing experience to go outside to hang up the laundry in front of a castle dating back 1000 years!

Another intersection of the current and the past shows up in the graffiti. Graffiti and wall art are everywhere in Portugal, typically some real art mixed in with traditional tagging. In Óbidos, it’s a big different. The city is mostly white with blue accents. Virtually all of the graffiti is, as if dictated by law, blue. It’s often handprints, for some reason, which are devoid of the modern signs of typical tagging, somehow enhancing the medieval feeling.

And then there was the festival. While we didn’t stay for the Market, as it’s an evening event and we had to catch a bus back to Lisbon, some of the characters were in place towards the end of our visit.

Looking out the train window en route to Évora, grape vines and olive trees increasingly dominate the landscape. The vines are gnarled and planted too close together for machine harvesting, an indication of the age of planting and more traditional methods. Alentejo is a huge agricultural region and produces much of the world’s cork in addition to wine, olives, and other agricultural products. At night, the Alentejo viewed from Évora is a peaceful landscape.

Évora probably started around 5000 years ago but it was the Roman conquest around 60BC that characterizes the early days of the city. The Romans built a wall around the city and its tiny alleys. Plazas dot the walled city along with some interesting ruins. Although cars drive down the streets wide enough for them, everything moves at a slow pace. It’s not just the streets, it’s the intense heat that sends everyone to the shady side of the street walking through the city.

In addition to the wall, there are two sites that recall the Romans. There is a Roman temple, which appears in every tourist guide to the city, with good reason. It stands high up, alongside an area for viewing the city. At night, lights make it stand out even more than in the daytime.

The other Roman site in Évora is the Roman baths inside City Hall. Unlike the temple, the baths are a recent discovery, buried for many years. They were found during excavation under City Hall and are nicely preserved. To see them, it’s necessary to go into City Hall, then they have their own area with a viewing balcony.

Évora has a chapel of bones, Capela dos Ossos. We’d visited another bone chapel in southern Portugal and had to visit this one as well. The visit was more restricted than the one in Faro, it was difficult to get close to the walls of bones. Given a choice, the one in Faro makes for a better visit but still, there’s nothing like being surrounded by skulls and other bones in a church.

Another popular tourist attraction that is worth a visit is the Cathedral of Évora. Every village and city in Portugal has at least one church, and every has many, but this one is vast and beautiful. It’s even possible to walk on the roof, high above the city.

The University of Évora provided some relief from the hordes of tourists at the other sites. It’s an old school, dating back to 1559, with interesting sculpture and art. And in most classrooms, an elevated lecturing box. (Also, university t-shirts for just €8, had to buy one.)

Of course everywhere inside the walled city feels like a throwback. The architecture is well-preserved. Every building is painted white, often with a yellow accent color and green doors, although other colors appear occasionally. But it’s the odd bridges between buildings, the fountains that appear in squares and even indoors, that catch the eye.

The buildings occasionally seem like modern art pieces when viewed through the camera.

And as probably the most memorable experience, a religious procession appeared in the center on Sunday. With horseback riding, drums beating, idols hoisted up, and devoted townspeople alongside, the procession completed the feeling of being completely disconnected from modern times.

Just a mile walk from the Jerónimos Monastery lies the Palácio Nacional de Ajuda, a home for the monarchy built in fits and starts for about 60 years starting at the beginning of the 19th century. It’s now a museum, one that oddly attracts few visitors. On a day when the Jerónimos Monastery, just a mile away, had long lines of tourists standing in sweltering heat, the Palácio had a dozen visitors, mostly Portuguese, despite being spectacular as both architecture and a museum. It’s definitely worth the walk up the hill from the Monastery, or a tram ride if the uphill walk is challenging.

Ajuda, the home of the palace, is a district of Lisbon that is far enough outside that feels both old and suburban simultaneously. It does have multiple bus lines and trams to connect it to the rest of Lisbon but it still has a calm and quiet feel. The streets on weekdays are almost empty. As always, there was interesting street art, this time in a small house in a field that appeared to be occupied by squatters.

Of course there are more “classic” Portugal buildings. Despite the somewhat suburban feel, it is still Lisbon.

Ajuda is also home to the Jardín Botánico de Ajuda, a large garden beautifully laid out with a diverse collection of vegetation. For some reason, there are a number of figures carefully created with tile that stand at one point in the garden.

There are peacocks living the in the garden. We saw one male peacock and two females with chicks. The caretaker feeds the peacocks and the chicks. The male was rather reluctant to be photographed and refused to sign a release, so here is a feather he dropped.

And then there is the Palace. There is ongoing work that will result in more museum space and the exterior is currently under renovation. Inside, the palace is a large number of rooms that flow from one to another, all with spectacular (and different) ceilings.

Large chandeliers in each room probably held candles originally.

The Palace has its own chapel, no surprise although there is a church that probably dates back to the same era a few blocks away. This chapel is a bit more intimate.

And there’s a music room! This was the first time I had seen a room specifically for music in any of these historical buildings.

And a pool room too! This palace was probably fun to visit.

When the music and pool games end, you can feed your 180 closest friends. The Palace is really worth seeing, especially if you are going to the Monastery or out for the pasteis in Belém. Just walk up the hill!