Thursday 28 September 2023

Serpa

A Tiny Alentejo City with Several Layers

So Where are We, and Why are We There?


Portugal
Serpa
As has been our habit for some years, we headed north for a couple of days in the less touristy Alentejo as a prelude to our regular fortnight in the fleshpots of the Algarve.

This year our chosen destination was the small city of Serpa, the population centre of a municipality of the same name which lies between the Spanish border and the regional capital of Beja (visited 2018). Many readers may never have heard of Serpa, but Serpa cheese is one of only a dozen or so Portuguese cheeses with Protected Designation of Origen status, and for a committed turophile, that is reason enough to visit.

Southern Portugal
Serpa can be found half way between the regional capital of Beja and the Spanish Border

As ever, we landed at Faro Airport and once through the formalities and equipped with a hire car we joined the A22 Motorway (Autoestrada/Freeway etc) heading east. After 50km, just before the Spanish border, we turned towards Serpa, 80km north as the crow flies. We followed the main road for much of the journey, but eventually that veers off towards Beja and we took a more rural route to our destination.

Serpa: The Basics

The Municipality of Serpa covers 1,000km² but has a population of only 13,000 at the 2021 census, an 18% decrease in 20 years. The City of Serpa has 6,000 inhabitants, maybe more a small town than a city, you might think, but city status was granted in 2003. Many modestly sized Portuguese towns have become cities in recent decades, the criteria for the upgrade are deliberately vague and allow plenty of wiggle room. The intention is to boost the local economy and self-confidence, though city status means little more than a change of letter head.

The area is largely agricultural, and although Portuguese farms were slow to mechanise in the middle of the last century, they have been busy catching up, with the inevitable decline in agricultural employment. On the plus side Serpa is two hours’ drive from Lisbon and is a popular location for well-off urbanites' second homes.

During our time in Serpa we found it was a city of layers, like an onion, so instead of going through our stay in chronological order, I intend to peel Serpa, removing the newer layers one by one until we find evidence of Roman occupation.

Peeling the Serpa Onion: (1) Surroundings

My clever analogy almost falls apart at the start. No-one peels an onion by first examining the soil around it, but cities and onions are products of the soil, so it important to look around.

Like most old settlements Serpa is on a high point, which was useful for photographing the surroundings. Serpa sits towards the eastern edge of the vast Alentejo plain, the bread basket of Portugal throughout recorded history. The land is beginning to change here, but wheat grows to the north and west, and like every other Alentejo town, Serpa has its grain silos.

Serpa grain silo, with Beja on the horizon on left

On the next major rise it is possible to make out the white buildings of Beja, some 25km northwest.

Looking south and west the crops being to change, with the muted green of olive trees and the brighter green of oranges replacing the cereals.

Olives, oranges and distant vines, serpa

On the gentle slopes beyond are the vineyards of the Encostas de Serpa, not (yet) a protected name, the wine is designated Vinho Regional Alentejano, but the use of the name suggest ambition.

Encostas de Serpa Syrah
A soft, fruity wine for convivial swilling

(2) The Onion Skin and First Layer

The skin of the onion is made up of the N260 which by-passes Serpa on the east and north side and the Circular Interna da Serpa which, despite being named ‘Interna,’ largely follows the edge of the built up area to the south and west.

Lining the Circular Interna are schools, the stadium of Serpa Football Club, two supermarkets (Intermarché and Lidl), an open-air 50m swimming pool and a couple of factories. On the N260 there is a car wash.

The first layer is fatter and juicier on the southern/western side. It includes a modern municipal market. We reached Serpa too late for the market on our first day, but took the opportunity to rehydrate at the café.

Rehydrating at the municipal market, Serpa

Serpa Cheese

One room is dedicated to a display about Serpa cheese. There is little see, but plenty to read, so here is the essential information:

Serpa cheese information room, municipal market

Like most Alentejo cheeses, Serpa is made from unpasteurised sheep’s milk, curdled using an extract from the cardoon thistle. It is a semi soft cheese (amanteigado (lit: buttery) in Portuguese) with a pronounced tang. For more see TheAlentejo: Eating and Drinking 2023.

Queijo de Serpa

Jardim Abade Correia de Serra

A short walk away is the Jardim Abade Correia de Serra, a pleasant garden opened in 2017 with winding paths, shady trees, a pond or two….

Jardim Abade Correia de Serra, Serpa

…and a surprise cactus grove.

Cactus, Jardim Abade Correia de Serra, Serpa

It is a good place to sit in the shade, switch on ‘Merlin*’ and find out what birds it hears. Many are familiar, but it in Serpa I logged my first Green Sandpiper (they can be found, in the UK, but not by me – yet), Short-toed Treecreeper and Spotless Starling.

(3) Outside the Walls

The ancient olive trees opposite the garden’s entrance hint that we are on the edge of an older layer of town. Amongst the olives is a statue of José Francisco Correia de Serra for whom the garden is named. Born in Serpa in 1750, he was a scientist, diplomat and polymath. He made important contributions both to botany and geology, played a crucial role in the creation of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, and served as a diplomat in the United States, 1816-20.

José Francisco Correia da Serra

Some parts of this layer are characterised by small squares with roads branching off at all angles. We stayed at the charming Hotel Beatriz in one such square, Largo San Salvador. Small and family run (I think) the interior was bright, modern, spotlessly clean and comfortable. I have borrowed a photo from their website as I failed to take one myself….

Hotel Beatriz, Serpa

…but I do have a nighttime photo of the church across the square.

San Salvador

Finding the hotel was a problem, partly because the satnav misplaced it slightly (corrected now), but more because the road arrangements are not satnav friendly. ‘In 50m turn half-right’ sounds straightforward but when you get there and survey the collection of roads and tiny passages, you wonder ‘which is half-right? We failed twice, the road system spitting us out onto the Circular Interna.

Elsewhere in this layer we encountered long, straight roads like the Rua dos Lagares (Street of Wine Presses), where orange trees shaded the pavement…

Rua dos Lagares

…and dogs watching from balconies.

Dog on a balcony, Rua dos Lagares

While roads off to the right seemed to narrow once they had passed through an arch. We were clearly walking along the boundary of a, walled city.

Street into the walled city from Rua dos Lagares

The Aqueduct

The wall turn turns right at the end of Rua dos Lagares, and behind one of Serpa’s fine old olive trees, suddenly turns into an aqueduct.

Lynne, an olive tree and the Serpa aqueduct

Above a spring on the street corner, a pump once lifted water up to aqueduct height…

The pump, Serpa aqueduct

…and fed it across a series of arches and past two towers….

Through two towers

….and into the Palácio dos Condes de Ficalho (Palace of the Counts of Ficalho).

Serpa Aqueduct enters the palace

Sources agree the wall is 11th century, some say the aqueduct is, too – but that seems unlikely. The authoritative looking Structurae dates the construction to 1690 which looks right.

Most aqueducts, the Evora aqueduct being the closest, bring water from a distant source into a city for the benefit of all. This expensive and ostentation stonework built by the Melho family, later Counts of Ficalhio, brings water 200m from a spring to their own house. I would like to think it was, at least a ‘workfare’ project, but I can find no information on the matter.

(4) Within the Walls

Inside the walls is an unreliable grid of narrow streets, many pedestrians only.

Serpa: inside the walls

Most wandering will arrive at the central square, home to the Camara Municipal and the Restaurant O Alentejano where we dined twice – once on purpose and once because nowhere else was open.

Serpa Camara Municipal

Our third evening meal (at Molhó Bico) was nearby so many of my photos were taken in the dark. Our Serpa dinners are discussed in The Alentejo: Eating and Drinking.

There are places where wandering narrow alleys late at night is asking for trouble. Serpa, its streets bathed in sodium yellow light, seems almost misty, but utterly benign.

Elderly local lady on a mission, Serpa

Mario Beirão

On a (daylight) wall we found a poem by Beja-born Mario Beirão.

Poem on a wall, Serpa

My improvement(?) of Google Translate's version reads:

Oh, I do not know how to pronounce the wonder
That bewitches Serpa at night when round
Her walls the past and a choir in waves
Foam and crash at the gates of Seville

Perhaps some punctuation would help in line 3, and the reference to the gates of Seville is beyond me. I lack context and knowledge of Portuguese colloquialisms. Help, anyone?

Beirão (1890-1965) was a neo-Romantic poet. Although highly regarded by some, he was a supporter of the tyrant António de Oliveira Salazar whose Estado Novo held back Portuguese development from 1932-74.

Museu de Relógio

Two small blocks from the Camara Municipal is the Museu de Relógio, the Museum of Timepieces (Relógio means both clock and watch.)

António Tavares d'Almeida (1933-2021) collected clocks and watches throughout his life. Part of his collection is in the Museum of Time in Évora, but most of it is in Serpa where 3,000 exhibits fill ten rooms of a 16th century nunnery.

There are inexpensive watches….

Inexpensive watches, Serpa Museum

….and more expensive watches.

Seikos can cost £2,000+

I know little about expensive watches, I cannot imagine why someone should pay £30,000 for a wristwatch, which is seen by few, recognised by even fewer and needs to be insured. I wear a cheap Casio, which keeps perfect time for a couple of years (what more do I want a watch to do?), then the strap breaks and I buy another. I aspire to nothing more - except repairable straps.

There are long case clocks and cuckoo clocks,…

Long Case clocks and cuckoo clocks, Serpa

…wall clocks, mantlepiece clocks and more.

Wall clocks and mantlepiece clocks, Serpa

Being in a room full of clocks when they all strike the hour, starting at different times and chiming with different notes and tempos, is a delight – though not one I would enjoy 24 times a day.

Approaching the Castle

Most of the area within the walls lies below the surrounding city, but just north of the central square a set of stone steps takes you to higher ground. Near the bottom of the steps we paused for coffee at a tiny café - two tables outside, two more inside. Here a café con leite - a traditional Portuguese coffee close(ish) to a cappuccino, though less frothy, rather stronger and much smaller than the travesty of the Italian original sold in swimming pool sized cups throughout the UK and North America - costs 0.70€ (that is £0.60, or $0.80). The touristy Algarve is rather more expensive.

Coffee break Digression over, we continue up the steps past the clocktower…

The Clocktower

…to a small square dominated by the Parish Church of Santa Maria.

Santa Maria, Serpa

Down the side of the church a narrow lane gives access to the innermost layer of the onion….

To Serpa Castle

(5) The Castle

As the previous photo shows, a portion of the keep has fallen over the entrance.

Fallen keep, Serpa Castle

There was a Roman fort on this site, but most existing walls were constructed by the Moors. Serpa is 20km from the Spanish border, so it is hardly surprising the castle was once garrisoned by Castilian forces and the city’s first Foral (charter) was granted by the King Alfonso X of Castille in 1281.

Despite the Christian kingdoms being in alliance against the Moors, they were not above taking a swipe at each other. By the time the Reconquista was completed in Portugal, Serpa was in Portuguese hands and a new Foral was issued by King Diniz of Portugal in 1295.

The castle was strengthened and enlarged, but saw little military action for the next 400 years. It remained largely unchanged, tall stone walls with a keep and tower or two, surrounding a square courtyard.

Serpa Castle from the top of the remaining tower

In 1701 Charles II of Spain died without an heir. There were two claimants and the European powers lined up behind one or the other and went to war. Portugal tried to remain neutral, but geography was against them. In 1703 they were persuaded to join with the Grand Alliance of the Holy Roman Empire, Great Britain and the Durch Republic. The Alentejo became something of a battleground and an engagement in 1707 resulted in the semi-demolition of Serpa’s keep. It has not been repaired, the time of castles had passed and it was quite safe as it was.

There is little to see but you can climb he tower and walk most of the way round the walls.

Walking round the walls

Several views beyond the city were used in Part (1), but there are also good views of the aqueduct….

The aqueduct

…and the church and clocktower.

Clocktower and Parish Church

At the start I promised to peel Serpa starting with the modern town and ending with evidence of Roman occupation. And that is what we have reached.

Decorative Roman frieze, Serpa Castle

On display in the castle courtyard are seeral pieces of stonework and a decorative frieze from a Roman villa in the nearby village of Brinches.

And Finally…

…we arrive at the end of this post. Serpa is a tiny city, it is also a quiet city – it has little to attract a party animal or adrenalin junkie; but for people who take pleasure in the understated grandeur of rural Portugal, Serpa is a gem. And a fine cheese, to boot.

*The Merlin ap is produced by Cornell University and is a free download. Download a bird database for where you are - in this case the Iberian Peninsula - and the ap will record and identify the birds you hear. You can report your findings, and the ap keeps a 'life list' of the birds you have heard,

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