Vila Viçosa is about 55km/34mi northeast of Évora, on the slopes of hills covered with orchards. It was at one time the seat of the Dukes of Bragança, and several kings from the same house, but with the abolition of the monarchy in 1910 it declined into provincial obscurity. The economy of the region depends on marble quarrying.
The village of Alandroal, with the ruins of one of King Dinis's 13th C. castles, is about 10km/6mi south of Vila Viçosa. There is an impressive fountain in the market square.
Address: Alandroal Tourist Office, Câmara Municipal do Alandroal Praça da República 7250-116 Alandroal, Alandroal , Portugal
The massive battlemented castle, or Castelo, that looms over the town, was built by King Dinis in the 13th C. and reinforced with bastions in the 17th. Visitors can walk around the ramparts surrounding the old town. Within the ramparts can be found the Renaissance da Conceiçao church and a hunting museum.
The Porta dos Nós is the eyecatching "knot gate" north of the palace on the Borba road. It was part of the old 16th C. wall round the town and is the entrance to the 5,000 acre Tapada, once the royal deerpark, where the Portuguese royal family hunted until early this century.
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Paço Ducal
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Alandroal, Portugal
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Terena, Vila Vicosa
