Visiting Sardoal
Visiting Sardoal“Ribalentejo”
Officially this is Ribatejo, but the image reminds us north Alentejo, that is just there, around the corner.
For more than 40 years Sardoal was a place that I would like to see, but always postponed.
Till now!
The centre
With a long history (it seems to come from the 14th century, officially established in the 16th) this small city, like almost everything in the interior of Portugal is fading.
However, the shrinking trend respects the defense of local patrimony, present in the general look of town.
I have a few friends from Sardoal, that in Lisbon, composed a fado enhancing their love for hometown.
Dozens of times I played that fado with the curiosity growing day after day.
Being in the area, with time, this visit of the city was something that I owed to myself. Being with Fernanda, the absence of a strong commercial activity, forced the visit to be short. But rewarding!
Pillory
Just a copy, made in 1934, but this simple column is everywhere the symbol of the autonomy won in the middle ages by the most important settlements.
It reproduces exactly the original, dating from the 15th century.
