Óbidos - Portugal

Óbidos is a place with a lot of History and many stories to tell. My last story in Óbidos didn't have an happy ending. I fell, went to the hospital the next day and couldn't work for a few days!! Everytime I visit Óbidos, there's always something that goes wrong. However, I keep coming back. 

These postcards are all from people who have already been there, Ana Sofia, Natália and Zé.

The Óbidos Castle would have been built by Moors, in a site that had already been occupied by Lusitans, Romans and Visigoths. The first Portuguese king, D. Afonso Henriqus, conquered this castle from the Moors around the year 1148, in the context of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. 

During the reign of King D. Sancho I (1185 to 1211) some improvement works were made in the Castle that resisted the attacks and kept faithful to king D. Sancho II (1223 to 1245) during the crisis that would lead to the king’s deposition and the arise to the throne of D. Afonso III. 

One of the Castle’s particularity is that after it was delivered by king D. Dinis (1279 to 1325) as a marriage gift to Queen Saint Isabel, it would be also part of the gifts of the following Queens, and was also residence to Queen D. Leonor, the wife of D. João II. 

 

Novo Olhar

King D. Manuel I (1495 to 1521) is the responsible for important improvements in the Castle and in the village, dating from that time the Alcaide Palace. 

The big Earthquake of 1755 caused great damages in the Castle, yet it was still important during the French invasions, contributing for the French army defeat. 

Classified as a National Monument, here is located the Óbidos Pousada (a luxury and charm hotel) that occupies the Manueline Palace built in the beginning of the 16th century. - in: https://www.guiadacidade.pt

 

Within the extensive wall that runs along the hill, there is a village of narrow cobbled streets, houses  painted on white with blue or yellow trim, flower vases by the windows and old lamps. Everything is properly preserved. Tv antennas and telephone wires are all underground to maintain the medieval atmosphere.