Page 315 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

Mértola’s castle high THE VERSATILITY
OF CORK
above the town and
Guadiana river Groves of evergreen
cork oak (Quercus suber)
provide the Alentejo
The copper mines at Minas with a thriving industry.
de São Domingos, 16 km Portugal, the world’s
(10 miles) to the east, were largest cork producer,
the main employer in the area has al most 7,000 sq km
from 1858 to 1965, when the (2,700 sq miles) under
mine was exhausted. An English cultivation and turns out
company ran the site under some 30 million corks a
the harshest con ditions, with day. In rural areas, this
miners’ families living in one versatile bark is fashioned
windowless room. The village’s into waterproof, heat­
population is about 700, and proof food containers and
the ghost-town atmos phere is these decorated boxes
relieved only by a reservoir and are a tradi tional craft
surrounding lush greenery. of the Alentejo.

26 August at Herdade da Casa houses that are trimmed with
Branca, just outside the
blue. The coast to the north
Zambujeira do Mar village, draws music lovers and west of the village is made
from all over Europe. up of a series of beaches, linked
! D7 @ n Rua da Escola;
283 961 144 ∑ sudoeste. by a scenic road and clifftop
meo.pt paths. The coves soften the
impact of the Atlantic waves,
A narrow strip of sheltered 27 creating safe swimming areas.
land divides the Alentejo plains Porto Covo South from Porto Covo it’s
from the Atlantic. Here lies the ! D6 ⌂ 10 km (6 miles) a short drive along a coastal
solitary village of Zambujeira south of Sines track to the lovely beach at Ilha
do Mar, the whiteness of its do Pessegueiro. The beach is
gorgeous beach enhanced Small but bustling, Porto Covo protected by a little island of
by the dark back drop of high is one of the most attractive the same name, which has its
basalt cliffs. The annual resorts on the Alentejo coast. own ruined sea fort. Fishing
Festival Meo Sudoeste, usu ally Its tiny main square is ringed boats often offer trips around
held in the second week in by traditional whitewashed the island from Porto Covo.

Stunning sandy beach at
Ilha do Pessegueiro, near
Porto Covo
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