Lisbon: Sintra with Pena Palace, Óbidos and Nazaré

The medieval village of Óbidos is one of the most picturesque and well preserved in Portugal.

Close enough to the capital and situated on a high point near the Atlantic coast, Óbidos had a strategic importance in the territory. Already occupied before the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula, the village became more prosperous from the moment it was chosen by the royal family. Since the king D. Dinis offered to his wife D. Isabel, in the century. XIII, belonged to the House of the Queens who, throughout the various dynasties, were benefiting and enriching it. It is one of the main reasons for finding so many churches in this small town.

Within walls, we find a castlewell preserved and a labyrinth of streets and white houses that enchant anyone who walks there. Between Manueline porticoes, flowered windows and small openings, there are several reasons to visit, good examples of the religious and civil architecture of the village's golden age.

The construction of this Mannerist style monument began in the reign of D. Sebastião in 1577, aiming to defend the cove of attacks by Algerian, Moroccan, Dutch and Norman pirates who invested on the Atlantic coast. In 1644, and due to its position, the king D. João IV, the Restorer, ordered its remodeling and enlargement. As vigilant sentry of the fortress was S. Miguel Archangel, patron of many sanctuaries, generally constructed in elevated places. On the façade of the fort, on the portal of the entrance, D. João IV, he had a calcareous image of San Miguel Arcanjo, with the caption "ELREY DOM JUAN-1644", which marks the year of its construction.