Alpalhão - Nisa

We start the path in Largo do Adro square, with the main church in a prominent position, and the “God’s Finger” sculpture indicating the Path. We continue along the Rua de Santo António cobblestone, and at the next crossroad, near the water spout, we cross the street and continue to the one on the right. At the end, we turn left and start the dirt track on the right, already at the exit of Alpalhão.

We walk over a plain formed almost 300 million years ago. Here, the famous biotitic granite of the region rules, the “Blue of Alpalhão", applied on the buildings façades and funerary monuments, which we can see in some nearby quarries. We walk several kilometres alongside the Figueiró stream. Many peoples left its traces around this territory, from the Neolithic menhirs, dolmens and tombs to the important Arab and Roman roads. Without any safer alternative, we enter the N18 national road and, after 1.6 km, we turn to the left, through a pleasant rural path that goes through the middle of holm oaks and olive groves. With Nisa at our doorstep, we cross once again the Figueiró stream, passing through the old granite colts, just before reaching Santo António chapel. We enter Nisa by Fonte da Cruz square, with an old wayside cross that gives it its name, and we follow the signs to the large square where the tourism office is located. We explore the town with good appetite, and here it is essential to taste two products on a good bread from Alentejo: the Queijo Mestiço de Tolosa and the Queijo de Nisa cheeses! The latter, from the Merina Branca sheep breed, is still handmade. To accompany, we have a delicious Sopa de Cachola (Soup of pork blood and guts) or the traditional Feijão das Festas (Tomato and bean stew).

In July, we can watch a performance of the folkloric group Rancho Folclórico das Saias Bordadas da Falagueira, with colorful clothes, rich in embroideries that are an art on the brink of extinction. We also visit the ruins of the castle, which include the tower walls, door and dungeon, built by the Knights Templars in the 13th century. And it is said that Vasco da Gama, the famous discoverer of the Maritime Way to India, lived here...