Óbidos

Óbidos

Ressembling an open-air museum, this walled medieval town has been preserved to look like a picture-postcard, with its monuments, narrow winding streets and white-washed houses with windows and terraces full of flowers. Its charm has crossed the ages: in 1282, the town was given as a present by king Dinis to his Spanish bride, Isabel of Aragon.

From Porta da Vila, the southern town gate whose interior is decorated with 18th century tiles, to Rua Direita, a street filled with small shops where visitors can buy traditional ceramics, wicker baskets, miniature windmills and hand-made embroidery and woollen articles, and to the 15th century royal castle that has been converted into an inn, Óbidos seems to go back in time to the days when the Court visited the town.

Also worth seeing are the works of Josefa de Óbidos (a 17th century artist that lived most of her life here), displayed in the Municipal Museum and specially in the church of Santa Maria, where the retable portraying the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine is to be appreciated.

Near Óbidos, many chapels, churches and ancient manor houses can be seen, such as the convent of São Miguel das Gaeiras and Quinta das Janelas, but visitors often prefer the marvellous nature sites around the Lagoa de Óbidos, a lagoon where almost all water sports can be practised, as well as fishing.