Page 250 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

EXPERIENCE Douro and Trás-os-Montes

2 "'-=
CASA

DE MATEUS

 E2 ⌂ Mateus, 3 km (2 miles) E of Vila Real £ To Vila Real @
# May–Oct: 9am–7pm daily (to 6:30pm Apr; to 5pm Nov-Mar)
∑ casademateus.com
The splendid manor house depicted on the labels of Mateus Rosé wine
epitomizes the flamboyance of Baroque architecture in Portugal. Casa
de Mateus was built in the early 18th century, probably by Nicolau Nasoni,
for António José Botelho Mourão, whose descendants still live here.

Tours start in the first-floor entrance salon, a Little remains of the original gardens planted
well-proportioned room graced by a pair of by the 4th Morgado’s uncle, who was an
sedan chairs and with a magnificent wooden archdeacon in Rome, and the gardens that
ceiling featuring family coats of arms. The Tea you can see today were laid out in the 1930s
Salon has a 17th-century William and Mary and 1940s. The style, however, is of an earlier,
cupboard and matching longcase clock from romantic era and the complex parterres and
England, while the Salon of the Four Seasons formal beds edged with tightly clipped dwarf
gets its name from the large 18th-century box hedges form a living tapestry that reflects
paintings on its walls. The library, remodelled perfectly the ornate symmetry of the house.
in the mid-20th century, contains volumes In winter, the grand old camellias, relics from
dating back to the 16th century, but the rarest the 19th century, are a highlight of the
book is in the small museum: an 1817 copy gardens, but for most visitors the lasting
of Os Lusíadas, with engravings by leading memory is of the vast cedar tunnel, greatest
artists. Also on display in the museum is family among the many pieces of topiary here.
correspondence with famous historic figures, Beyond the formal gardens lie the well-
including Frederick the Great and Wellington. ordered orchards and fields of the estate.
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