Óbidos

Restore, upon the existing foundations, some of the buildings destroyed by the earthquake of 1755, demolish no more than a dozen buildings from this century, and slightly restore some of the architectural details without changing the street plan or the arrangement of the houses, and you have Óbidos, a 300-year old Portuguese town which is still faithfully intact. Romalho Ortigão, nineteenth century Portuguese writer.

Founded by the Celts in 308 B.C., Óbidos was subsequently occupied by the Romans, Visigoths and Moor before being taken by the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques in 1148. In 1282 King Dinis and his Queen, Isabel, were married in Óbidos. The town was given as a wedding present to the Queen and from then until 1834 was part of the dowry of all Portuguese queens. Today the superbly preserved medieval walls and towering castle, formerly the royal palace, and the white-washed houses highlighted with blue and yellow stripes lining narrow, twisting cobblestone streets, allow the visitor to step out of the frenetic twenty-first century and go back in time.

The old and the new in Óbidos. Sculpture by José Aurélio against the background of the medieval town

From high atop the walls, one commands a view of all of Óbidos

Rua Direita

The medieval walls

For more information visit the Óbidos homepage