We spent some of our best days in Portugal and after so many months, we still can’t stop thinking about all those things we saw and experienced there.
Being in love with travelling and discovering new things about other cultures, is what kept us stoked in exploring deeply each place we were about to visit.
We’re always fascinated by urban myths and having long conversations with locals, so this is exactly what we did before visiting Castelo de Montemor o Velho.
Our friends in Portugal told us that Montemor is a must – see and we certainly listened to them. They mentioned that it’s a medieval castle with a great history and has survived through several military campaigns.
Despite the fact that Montemor is a really old castle, its condition is excellent.
Nowadays a contemporary music festival (Festival Forte) takes place there once a year and gathers many visitors.
When we reached Montemor we realized that is a unique landmark for the region. It is a beautiful castle built on a hill in the middle of a little village. From its top the 360° view is outstanding and there is also a huge inside garden, in which the festival gets hosted.
Inside the castle, you will also find the church of Santa Maria da Alcáçova which dates back to the eleventh century , and its present shape dates from the Manueline period.
We weren’t lucky enought to attend the Festival Forte, maybe next time, but we had an amazing day at this beautiful castle. It felt like we were in a time machine and went back in time.
**top secret:
According to locals, Montemor’s name, inspired the British writer J.K. Rowling, while she was living in Portugal, to rephrase it and turned it into Voltemor(t), creating that way her famous villain’s name.
Sounds cool, don’t you think?
Till next time,
Take care travel lovers!
Dizzy Bird Travels 