What was that ? No castle could have a better view than Lisbon’s St George’s Castle or Sintra’s Moorish castle ?
*smirks in Portuguese*, Oh my dear traveler, stick around, i think you’ll like this one.
I’ve done quite a lot of exploring in Portugal, and it’s not everyday that i find a place that leaves me speechless and literally contemplating how beautiful our existence can be.
That being said, Marvão is a very small town on the very top of the Sapoio mountain in the São Mamede natural park. A once strategic military location, due to its high altitude and long distance visibility nature, now , one of the most, if not the most relaxing and beautiful touristic destination in Portugal.
The town of Marvão has less than 500 people and is situated in a mostly flat area, earning it one of the top positions in the “sunset worthy destinations” list for Portugal.
The houses, much like in the rest of Portugal’s past, are all made from the local granite stone, but modernized to some extent, using a filler like cement, and all painted white, leaving only some visible traces of the granite stone as a reminder of the ancient construction technique.
The entrance to the town has almost a movie-like feel to it; you’re presented with these big, once gated arches giving you a sort of medieval movie deja-vu and an urge to charge through them while singing your best battle cry. It is, jokes aside, a very fun place to visit.
To get to the castle, just make your way up the town to the highest point; the castle won’t be hard to find at all, it’ll be your typical “all roads lead to rome” kind of thing.
Once you actually get to the castle itself, on a sunny day, you’ll notice that the castle’s granite stone does an amazing job at capturing that orange, evening sunlight, almost giving it a glow.
Now, let’s talk sunsets, and oh boy is this a good place for them.
As above mentioned, Marvão might be, in my opinion, one of the best places to see a sunset in Portugal, and i’ll explain why; it’s all about simplicity and relaxation.
The area around the castle, isn’t too developed, having only small villages and a few, far-apart houses, so there’s not much activity, that means, there’s not much noise, which in turn, translates to a very peaceful, and calm sunset. Pair that with an amazing view, and gorgeous colors all around you, and it’s the perfect recipe for a sunset you’ll never forget.
So all-in-all, a true destination winner in my books. Here’s some photos taken during the sunset:
To finalize this post, a video, of by far, of one of the calmest experiences i’ve had all my life; the dusk that just didn’t want to end. No wind and the only sounds to be heard were some dogs and a distant chainsaw. Enjoy.
The Serial Sunsetter 