The walls
A walk around town.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · P. Hughes — CC BY 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0
Óbidos Castle is a well-preserved medieval castle in the town of Óbidos in central Portugal, its walls ringing the whole old town on a hilltop. It lies about 71 km in a straight line from Lisbon. A fortified settlement stood on the hill from early times, probably above an old Roman town, and a forum and baths from the Roman era have been found nearby. In the 13th century the town was given as a wedding gift to King Denis and Queen Elizabeth, and it became the property of successive queens of Portugal. In 1948 the castle became a historic hotel, and the castle and the whole town were classed as a National Monument in 1951. Golden stone walls with square and round crenellated towers rise over the hill, some hung with red banners. Inside, narrow cobbled lanes are lined with white houses trimmed in blue and yellow, with bougainvillea spilling down their walls. You can walk the walls around the town, but the path is narrow and mostly without a railing, so mind the edge. The town is small and can be explored on foot in half a day.
A walk around town.
Coloured trim.
Crenellated and round.
Óbidos, Oeste region, Portugal
Narrow with no railing, so take care.
Half a day.