He couldn’t stop singing about the day we had in Estramoz. He wanted to go back outside and revisit the places we had seen. But we explained that every day would be different. Every destination would offer its own lesson and unique charm. We had to move on.
The narrow road to Convento São Paulo hugs rolling verdant hills, and leads through acres of dense forest on Alentejo’s majestic D’Ossa mountain. Trees tower above on both sides, such that you have the sense of traveling to another time and place.
When we arrived, large iron gates slowly opened to the hotel grounds, and we were invited into a sort of paradise. The wealth of nature (totaling 750 acres) offered orange groves, olive orchards, manicured mazes, and flora in full winter bloom. We were (without exaggeration) simply blown away.
Our senses were reawakened by the music of birds and animals. We felt the air – aromatic and fresh, as if for the first time, and understood why 12th Century hermits were drawn here.
Over hundreds of years, novices and friars were seduced by the abundance of nature to remain. All however, were expelled in 1834; providing the opportunity for people like us to enjoy the beauty of creation – where earth appeared to touch the sky.
Inside the Convento, 54 thousands blue and white porcelain tiles, narrate the lives of religious history.
Accommodations are austere. Visitors sleep in repurposed cells in which the monks once resided.The architecture successfully conspires to direct attention to interior landscapes, to God and prayer.
Besides the current owner – who resides here with a companion, we seemed to be the only occupants in this vast estate. Our solitude was stunning, mysterious and deeply gratifying.