Portugal Part IV - Monsanto

For my next stop I drove way out of the way to the tiny village of Monsanto. I was really looking forward to this part of the trip as from what I had read about the town online it was going to be a sight like nowhere else. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.

After a 3-hour drive down lonely winding rural 2 lane highways I finally saw my destination. Perched high up on a mountain was the ancient village off in the distance. There was only one way up, by taking a steep road that had barely enough room for 2 cars to pass. On one side, a shear rock wall, on the other, a drop down a steep cliff strewn with boulders that seemed endless. The rock guardrail seemed hardly capable of stopping a donkey cart let alone a fast moving car.

Once inside the village I know the journey had been worth it. This small village of just over 1000 inhabitants truly was a unique place. The houses were built right into the mountain. Huge boulders were carved into and were either dwellings or storehouses. The whole town was made of stone quarried from the mountain it sat on.

Monsanto has been consistently been voted "The Most Portuguese Town In Portugal" by the Portuguese people themselves and it was easy to see why. Time has simply stood still here. It is so remote and inaccessible that it is way off the tourist path. This suited me fine as I was free to take photos of everything with nary a person in sight. I was there for 2 - 3 hours and I don't think I ever saw another tourist and this was in the middle of June, the high season for tourists in Portugal. The only people I did see were the odd inhabitants. They were either very old or small children, it seems most citizens leave when the become adults as the pace is simply to sleepy for them.

Yet the place is simply incredible. Squares and churches were dotted throughout the village and joined by narrow cobblestone lanes. The views from the top over the surrounding countryside was somply magnificent. It was a photographers dream and if I do ever visit Portugal again I know I will visit Monsanto once more and will plan to spend a lot more time here. For anyone planning a trip to the country I would highly recommend a stop here no matter how remote. All in all it was about a 3-hour trip each way to the town. With a 3-hour stop in the town itself the trip to the village of Monsanto was almost a whole day in itself but definitely worth the effort.