Alentejo : pictures

The Alentejo ("beyond the Tagus") represents almost a third of Portugal. Protected to the east by its many fortress towns, the region is dominated on its plain by the two sentinel cities of Beja and Évora. This rural province offers a complete change of scenery and the promise of a return to the land. Sparsely inhabited (6%), the region seems like an ocean of hills, with here and there a village or chapel punctuating the immense azure sky with the white of their walls. Here, you'll discover people, skills and a terroir that's still going strong. Alentejo is particularly renowned for its vineyards. It's also one of the regions where, on every street corner, you'll come across men and women sitting in the shade of a tree, almost part of the landscape. A word of advice: go outside the summer months. For example, in autumn, when the red-orange color of the vines blended with the brown-green of the trees and plains is marvelous.