Two palaces in northern Portugal.

God talking: ‘ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…'(written well before 753 B.C. by a minor Hebrew prophet.) Hosea 4:6 This whole verse is interesting, but I have chosen only the first phrase.

In this post, we will look at two different homes, both kept in their respective  families where both celebrate their gardens.

The first one we saw was:

Mateus Palace

The Mateus Palace is located near Vila Real. The name Villa Real may sound familiar because it has a motor-racing circuit going through it. The city is perched over a gorge cut by the Cabril and Cargo Rivers, and as a result, some steep roads.

I am going to let you discover the Mateus Palace as we saw it. I saw a reflection in a mirror pool. The white and sienna of walls but then a reflected tree!

We headed to the tree. I photographed but wanted a video. We went into the house and looked at the gardens too, and then Roy said:

‘ That tree, you did read the information about it! ‘

Sandy : ‘NO! We must go back! ‘

It is Portugal’s tree of the year 2025!

I knew it was grand before I was told it was. Sometimes it is good that way!

The Mateus Palace is Portuguese Northern Baroque. I believe it was designed by an Italian and constructed between 1739-1743. Let us look at the tree and gardens.

Now for the garden. A neo-baroque historical garden connects with the Casa de Mateus original landscape. The sun was perfect to enjoy the cedar tunnel going inside, full of mystery.

Peering out, one can make out the Crowns garden, and once out and higher up looking down, one can appreciate The Painted Garden , a Land Art work by Mauel Casimiro, who created this zen inspired garden.

And then the vegetable gardens.

Remember the Fort and how one of the heirs went to Brazil. His wife stayed here in this palace and proved to be a wise woman in handling the estate and buildings.

Here are a few pictures of details I noticed in the palace:

‘ Details create the big picture.’

Sandford I. Weill

We travelled …

The Paço de Sâo Cipriano

The Paço de Sâo Cipriano is a Portuguese Palace dating from the 15th century, a short distance from the city of Guimăres. It is built in a Neo – Manueline Style.

We were delighted to stay in the estate grounds of this second palace. The lady of the house showed us the gardens . Her husband’s family has lived in this home since the 1400.

This is how we discovered this special place. It was late afternoon, and we had travelled for three hours over high mountains in the Parque Natural do Alvão. The passes marked with white stones have deep drops, and the views take in layers of vistas. We were tired. There were three possible places this was the closest and such a surprise.  In 1982, to help maintain these special places, rural tourism started,  so for 15€ one can stay on this estate.

Life is full of surprises! We didn’t realise who we were talking to in the fading light as she showed us the clean, adequate facilities. The night was dark, the wind blew, Bugzy shook, and the church clock chimed as she said it would. A place full of atmosphere.

The next morning, we went to several ATMs to get money. The weekends make high demands on the machines.  It was late morning by the time we took up the lady’s invitation made in fading light the night before to see the gardens.

But she was there.  Full of enthusiasm. Love for her gardens, comfortably part of her clothes and who she was/ is.

The box hedges: ‘ I don’t want to replace them with something else. Yes, the worms eat them, but a visitor from Germany said the birds are learning to eat these destructive pests. We must be patient: ‘ she said.

And so they plant and replant the box and take care of these elegant rich gardens.

Then ofcourse there is a tree, Cryptameria japonica. It is stately and 300 years old. Let’s look at this well loved garden. A November garden.

The palace has remote origins in Roman Villas, and on 22 July 1415 on the oldest known document, the Sotomayor family took possession of the house.

The flowers must be lovely here in spring and summer. The lady says it used to snow for one or two weeks and kill many of  the bugs, but for years, there hasn’t been any snowfalls so as a good gardener, she struggles with the pests.

A camila, a rose and the 300 year old tree.

There are extensive high camila hedges that will all be in bloom over Christmas. Pink and white the chosen colours. They can be seen high and well clipped and full of buds at the moment.

These two palace gardens are full of peace and love for nature. Time well spent.

I leave you with a video I took of Portigal’s tree of the year 2024.

Take care,

Sandy.