Oasis forgotten by guides. This region can no longer remain in the shade

The Alexejo region, although it covers up to a third of Portugal’s surface, attracts tourists rather discreetly. Stretched between the vibrant Lisbona in the west and the border with Spain in the east, he does not scream to please, but still goes straight to the heart. Not much is happening here, but that’s what it is about. You do not necessarily come to Alentyo to fill the days with intensive sightseeing – you come to just be and enjoy the atmosphere like from Tuscany from the past.

In small and often overlooked by tourists, the towns of Marvão, Monsraz and Elvas, silence becomes part of the landscape, and historical monuments blend in with the surroundings as if casually. “This is a place that has stopped in time,” says Alexejo Ruben, a 52-year-old Portuguese, who, although he lives in a bustling capital on a daily basis, always returns here with sentiment.

Only two hours from Lisbon

In Portugal, life goes on along the shoreline. Currently, eighty percent of the inhabitants live in just thirty percent of municipalities focused on the Atlantic. They come here for everything that the province is usually not able to provide them – they pay for better work, pay and solid education.

Then, in the historical streets of big cities, they collide with tourists who made them their own playground. As Lisbans emphasize, the center of their country’s capital is no longer a place for locals. Similarly, the Algarve coast, which, to the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of the coast, has become almost British exclaims in recent years.

It is enough, however, go a bit further into the land to see what is invisible for the city of Break’s Break Tourist at first glance. People walking without rush, poppies, small antiques fairs, which only visit the regulars and vineyards stretching to the horizon. For this purpose, it is best to rent a car, because reaching the hidden on the hills of Alexejo Portuguese public transport can be a challenge.

Here you can look at the eagles at the ridges

The first place for which we should leave Lisbon right after arrival is the small Marvão, located at an altitude of 865 meters above sea level. This is the very peak of the region, recognized as one of the ten most beautiful villages in the country. – They say that from Marvão walls you can look at the eagles at the backs – Ruben is delighted. A walk along the medieval fortifications guarantees views worth a two and a half -hour driving from the airport, and this is just a foretaste of what Alentyjo offers.

We are right next to the Spanish border, and there is a smuggling trail nearby. – Until the creation of the European Union, smuggling between our countries was common and concerned primarily tobacco – says the local guide. Earlier, in the 18th century, during the Spanish Inquisition, the same route was traveled by Jews seeking shelter in Portugal. Today it is an attraction for active people, which, although in theory, should be tired, gives respite. On the route we will meet at most individual people who, like us, in silence will admire the idyllic landscape.

On tourists, however, will be more impressed by the village of Monsraz, which is recognized in its category as one of seven wonders of Portugal. Buses and cars stay in the parking lot, and a further journey through the stone streets towards the fourteenth-century castle is like a walk with a sky bridge hung on the sea of ​​greenery. This is probably the best place for leisurely espresso in the company of the most famous Portuguese dessert, Pastéis de Nata. From here, you can also admire the largest artificial Europe lake – the Alqueva reservoir, after which tourist viewing cruises are organized every day.

In Alentyo you will touch the past

What surprised me the most in Alentyo is the ubiquitous proximity of monuments that seem to pay no attention at all. In Evor, whose historical center was inscribed on the UNESCO heritage list, Roman remains grow out of the ground at the least expected moments. In addition to the powerful aqueducts, you can see here Diana temples, one of the best preserved monuments of ancient Rome throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Also in this city there is the second oldest university in Portugal.

The smaller Elvas, whose brightest point is the 18th-century Fort de Nossa Senhora da Graça, which was the brightest of cultural wealth, which until 1976 served as a military prison. – Twenty -nine years took them to build these fortifications. It’s really fast if we take into account how much it usually takes up to the home to Portuguese workers. Three decades are nothing for our standards – I hear from a guide.

Patience is the second name of Portugal

Alexejo is not a place for people who expect everything here and now. In Portugal, the word is better to replace with a glass of wine, and then another. – Wherever you go, they will give you wine. You have to be careful, because here it is cheaper than water – says Ruben, who at good strains, like every Portuguese, knows best. Alexejo is famous for its extremely rich variety of grape varieties, even exceeding that of the regions of Italy found in some wine.

Stoic peace of the Portuguese, which I observe when the bus breaks down on the road to the airport, he also overwhelmed me. I show a real Portuguese mastery also when testing olive oil, which you must first warm in your hands to get the best aroma from it. The patience, simplicity and a sense of belonging are reminded of cantejano, a local music genre that, who, in comparison to Fado, have heard few.

To acquire one of the key – next to wine and olive oil – Alexejo export products you have to wait several dozen years. I am talking about a traffic jam obtained from a cork oak, which is later used not only in the production of a popular drink, but also to create handicrafts. After planting a tree, it takes several decades before the first collection is possible, and the next one has to wait another nine years. Patient Portuguese set up a “cork business” not with themselves, but about subsequent generations.

It is also necessary to demonstrate in the care of olive trees, which should be cut to control growth and take care of better fruit quality. “I have a friend who cut everything because a guy told him that he would give him a better strain,” says the Portuguese guide around the vineyard. However, people look here for their purposes longly, even if it means temporary stagnation. – American tourists do not understand this – as you can easily give up fast profits – he adds.

Too calm to make it fashionable

– Will Poles be interested in us? – talks another encountered guide from Alexejo. During my stay in the poorest part of Portugal, I am asked several times about the type of Polish tourist who would like to come here to traverse the endless vineyards and green olive groves. Although most compatriots at the western end of Europe will go at most to see a pink street in Lisbon and beaches in Algarve, in Alentyo I see value for those who already have holes in the nose full of colorful online recommendations.

Alexejo is too calm and authentic to become fashionable. At least I hope so, because mass tourism has shown more than once how imperceptibly it is quickly able to sneak into places considered “hidden pearls” and “treasures lying outside the beaten trail.” In the end, not so long ago, no one was seriously interested in Madeira, who is not besieged by Poles, not to mention the Azores completely isolated from the world. This oasis forgotten by guides should no longer remain in the shadow of richer neighbors.

When I came to Portugal a few years ago, I spent the most time in Lisbon. I do not remember that I would meet at least one person in Portuguese. Alexejo gives a chance to look at life, and maybe even a short chat – with the native inhabitants of the country, whose mentality will prove to be so surprisingly close and Poland. The Portuguese, like Alexejo itself, from parties to a white wound on the beach value the peace of their home, and from the dynamic small talk they prefer insightful and long conversations. We probably only differ in love for olive oil, which in Poland is just timidly maturing.

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The text was prepared in cooperation with TAP Air Portugal, a promotion office of the Alexejo and Turismo de Portugal region.