Three days around Marvão

After Lousã we spent three days in and around the small hilltop town of Marvão, in the eastern mountains very close to the Spanish border.

On the drive down we stopped in Penela to tour the 11th century castle there.  The castle keep is small but well restored.

After a night in Marvao we took a morning trip to the nearby town of Castelo de Vide, which has yet another hilltop castle.  It also has a museum on the site of the synagogue in the old Jewish quarter, which was active from the 14th century.

In the afternoon we returned to tour the museum and castle in Marvao.  Marvao is on top of the highest hill in this region of Portugal and the castle is spread over a large area at one end of the village.  We spent quite a bit of time exploring the castle area and walking the walls which (in what seems to be the Portuguese tradition for tourist sites) have large drop-offs and no railings.

Inside the castle's cistern

The next day we set off to hike a loop trail starting from the nearby village of Galegos.  This was a beautiful and mellow outing through rolling granitic ranchland.  We were walking through a mix of cork oak trees, olive groves, and grazing sheep (with the occasional cow thrown in).  Cork can be harvested every nine years; many of the trees were marked with the year of their last harvest.  The harvest involves cutting around the whole circumference of the tree and then peeling off the bark.

Marvao in the distance

Stepping stones to cross the creek

As we passed through one small village on our loop hike a trail marker sign was pointing 180 degrees off.  Once we figured out what had happened we were a full mile in the wrong direction; with the detour we ended up just under ten miles for the day.  But such beautiful walking.