A Trip to Alentejo, from Monsaraz to Marvão

What was supposed to be a mini photo-trip with my friends João, Conceição and Kady through eastern Alentejo ended up being a gastronomic trip instead. Not that I have anything against it, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the region’s delicious dishes!

That said, we certainly had some free time between meals to explore a few places, and snap a few shots. The trip was basically divided in two, the first half around Monsaraz and the second around Marvão, two typical fortified villages, not that far from Spain. The main goal was a mix of cultural and landscape photography, letting the afternoon light for the wide views and morning and mid-afternoon for villages and small road trips.

Marvão is really small, located on top of an hill but fully featured with ancient stoned walls covered with lychen. From the top of the ramparts the surrounding view was absolutely stunning with green hills and plains to one side and the Alqueva bayou to the other.

Entrance to Monsaraz village. Alentejo, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 35mm, f/8, 1/320s, ISO 250

Cat in front of stoned wall in Monsaraz. Alentejo, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 35mm, f/8, 1/320s, ISO 640

Getting closer to the water was not easy at all, but luckily one of Portugal’s top photographers, Joel Santos, gave Kady a tip about a small remote place named Estrela where we could have an easy access to the Alqueva. The place was at its best when we arrived. The rain had just stopped and the warm sunset light was just showing up. We tried our best to take advantage of the place and lighting conditions.

Lonely tree in Alqueva. Estrela, Alentejo
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 23mm, f/14, 0.5s, ISO 50

Lonely tree in Estrela. Alentejo, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 24mm, f/14, 1s, ISO 50

Single tree by the path. Estrela, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 21mm, f/16, 13s, ISO 50

Alqueva bayou at dusk. Estrela, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 16mm, f/16, 25s, ISO 200

We then headed to Monsaraz, another fortified village, this one a bit larger, but also with stunning views 360º. After some research on the web we read about a large waterfall in the woods nearby. That took us sometime wandering by car and foot, asking people for directions, but we finally made it down there! I’m sure João hasn’t good memories of the place since we fell from a rock onto the water and broke a lens in between, but good photographers tend to risk it all for a good photo, and sometimes luck is not around the corner. This is my best shot from a standing rock in the middle of the stream.

Fallen tree over waterfall. Marvao, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 24mm, f/16, 1s, ISO 50

Back to the village, a morning fog helped giving some mood to the images of old villagers doing their daily routine.

Couple walking in Marvao on a foggy morning. Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 35mm, f/14, 1/125s, ISO 800

Widow walking in Marvao. Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 16-35 f2.8 II L - 35mm, f/14, 1/125s, ISO 800

And there we went back home, through a tunnel of trees…

Road surrounded by trees in Portagem. Marvao, Portugal
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS II L - 160mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 1000

Posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 at 9:07 pm. Filed under: Culture, Landscapes, Portugal Tags: alentejo, culture, landscape, marvão, monsaraz. travel, nature, people RSS 2.0 feed.