One of the most beautiful fortified cities in Europe, that is fully surrounded by walls, not plagued by modern commerce and filled with flowers and books -> this is Obidos, city of the Queen!
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| 012.1 Obidos can be seen from the highway and even from such a distance it is really beautiful and so inviting! |
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| 012.2 Main Entrance - Porta da Vila. Once we step foot inside, immediately we feel as if walking through a time portal! |
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| 012.2 O Lidador Restaurant. All is white with tasteful motifs. |
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| 012.3 Bio market and books (central area of the city) - need food for the body or just food for thought 💭 ? When I took this photo I thought about making it into a puzzle. |
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| 012.4 Stony streets, white walls, touch of blue or yellow -> all streets in Obidos are beautiful! |
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| 012.5 It is hard to walk on these paved streets and not wonder on just how well preserved is everything. These people kept restoring their beautiful city, after each war, and natural calamity. Plus it is spring so trees are in blossom. |
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| 012.6 A peek outside the safe thick walls. |
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| 012.7 What is very interesting is that the full history of Obidos it is unknown. Maybe at the museum there is more to be found, but the known history starts with the legend of the conquest of the castle (read it at the end of this article). |
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| 012.8 People lived in the area, well before the Romans came here, and then after the Moors and Portuguese... It seems as if it has always been here a human settlement of sorts. And the walls grew higher and higher as time passed. May this place stay unchanged for many more millennia. |
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| 012.9 I don't know if I am mistaking, but most gardens are actually outside the city walls, just like this beautiful 🌸 tree and solitary bench. We actually ate our sandwiches here, ignorant of the dozens of visiting 🐝 bees, and we counted the passing trains (not that many to be honest). |
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| 012.10 There are green areas also inside the walls, in fact all the areas are well delimited, and beautifully managed! |
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| 012.11 Here is another beautiful corner in Obidos. In fact, most of the time here, we were with the camera out of the bag, pointing somewhere. We were also lucky that it was not super crowded. Obidos seems to be one of those photographers paradise. Portraits, weddings, event photography, history and fantasy photos, etc. -> there are few types of photos that don't really fit here... maybe corporate photos ☺ |
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| 012.12 And if there are no wide streets filled with flowers, one must still look away from the ground because stories of Obidos are painted with blue on white ceramic tiles - azulejos. Weddings, agriculture, legends, all are present here. |
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| 012.13 No fortress is without a Castle and Obidos is no different. Sadly there was a filming crew here so we could not do much. Also the parking was filled with camera material and fake building structures (like the one to the right of the image) as seen in old western movies. |
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| 012.14 Would you have guessed that this is a church? Senhor Jesus da Pedra (Lord Jesus of Stone) is a very visited religious place by pilgrims, situated outside of the fortress. It looks more like a prison to be honest (we did not visit). |
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| 012.15 Back on the streets of Obidos, capturing a beautiful Wisteria plant. |
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| 012.16 Just a few images earlier we saw a grocery store, with walls filled with books, here is a church, filled also with books. When I saw this, I was very surprised and decided that I will make it in 3D to be the head image of the article. As seen in the beginning, I`ve added an organ to make it more church looking like. |
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| 012.17 This is the Library of Sao Tiago, that is inside a church. Sadly, just like at the grocery store, no books in english. Maybe when you visit, there will be, who knows?! |
Should you come to Obidos?
Of course! It is one of the most beautiful/romantic fortress cities in this region! While it does not have cannons and shinning armours (only in the castle), there are gorgeous streets filled with plants that are even more beautiful on the white background on each house.
As a plus, there aren't a ton of stores and it will be hard to find naked women painted on beach towels... Instead, books and culture are the main residents, be a grocery store, a coffee pub, an ice-cream shop or even a church!
We really loved this place, and it is the only city (so far) where we stopped just to take in everything (plus touch the old walls ☺)
We came by car, but there is also a train connection (marked on the map). In fact we saw the train as we were sitting on the bench, next to the tree in blossom 🌸.
We did not stay the night here and we think that a small walk, just like in Valenca (article 001) should be enough to create fond memories.
There are a few differences between Valenca do Minho (article 001) and Obidos (article 012):
For one, it is more quiet, and less in your face with merchandise. I really hate that about Valenca. There are more stores to buy the same stuff, than places to have a drink or food. I did not write this in that article, but we visited Valenca many times, and almost never ate there because I did not like anything. Obidos is different, more pleasant, more inviting. Might not be as cheap but it is worth it.
Second, the whole city is uniform, just like a Greek island, with houses all white, but colourful lines (yellow, blue, red, green) ornate them. They go on the edges and not everywhere like on buildings in Normandy, France (see future articles).
There are really gorgeous areas that do not make someone tired or bored. In fact it is almost like a three dimensional maze, but a beautiful and quiet one at that, plus there is a medieval castle that is huge!
We hope to return one day with our daughter and we hope it will be, just as we found it: unchanged!
Thank you for reading this article, and we hope it helped.
MiDe.
