By now, it’s safe to assume that if you hear the word “Monsanto”, you’re going to think of Lisbon’s 10km2 protected forest with its notorious Panorâmico Restaurant, family friendly parks and amazing views, right? Well… what if I told you there’s a better one?
As opposed to Lisbon’s Monsanto, the town of Monsanto is much farther from Lisbon; being all the way up in Idanha-a-Nova, in the Castelo Branco district, which is round about a 3 hour car ride from Lisbon. It’s considered one of the most magical towns in Portugal, and it was nicknamed “the most Portuguese town in Portugal” in 1938, and oh boy is it worth the visit.
Having an abrupt maximum altitude of 758 meters, in an otherwise mostly flat area, the mountain of Monsanto, on which the town sits on, does an amazing job at sticking out from miles away, becoming one of the most common ways people discover this “hidden” gem.
The houses in the town of Monsanto are based on the everlasting granite rock, a rough textured rock, prolific in many regions in the north of Portugal, due to it being commonly found in mountainous regions, and has been used in the construction of houses dating all the way back as early as 2000 B.C.
Although the population of the town has been declining over the years, due to emigration, and a lack of diversified work opportunities, reaching only 829 people in 2011, you’ll find, that the ones still remaining are really friendly and will happily talk to you and help you if need be, giving this town an all around good vibe.
If you decide to visit this town, make sure to take some food with you because you won’t find any big shops around, and in low season, some of them might actually be closed. I would also advise you to save an entire afternoon to explore the town, in order for you to go on a good walk around, and explore its many sights and points of interest.
As the evening comes to an end, start thinking of a place you’d like to see the sunset at, because, being a high altitude area, amidst a generally flat region, sunsets are usually pretty damn amazing, and you’ll want to be comfortable by the time the sun starts saying its goodbye, and enjoy it the best you can (picnics are recommended for maximum enjoyability).
One final word of advise, if you go to Monsanto during high season (summer), you might not be able to take your car all the way up to the town, in this case you’ll have to park your car at the town’s entrance, at the bottom of the mountain, and there will be a bus that can take you up to the top.
And, now, to finalize this post Here’s some more pictures of the sunset, because I feel it’s deserving:
The Serial Sunsetter 