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Monday, November 10, 2014

© * Vila Vicosa

Vila Vicosa has many major sights but its main attraction is that it is the most beautiful of the marble towns to walk around. The buildings are elegant, the windows and doorways tastefully framed with weather-worn marble cantarias and at first-floor height there are often arched arcades and wrought iron balconies. The doors all have their odd knocker; some a simple hand holding a ball, others as intricate as a brace of duck dangling a tortoise. The name Val Vicosa - meaning verdant valley - was given to the town after the reconquest in 1270 under Afonso III. André de Resende, a 16th century Portuguese historian, referred to the town as Calipole (Greek for "good city") and the local people are still known as Calipolense.
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2 comments:

  1. Baesuris FrancaisNovember 11, 2014 at 4:04 PM

    Vila Vicosa, ville très agréable, abondamment fleurie et arborée, aux maisons blanches cernées de jaune. Ancienne résidence des ducs de Bragance et de quelques rois, elle conserve de cette époque un air de noblesse un peu fanée. Dans les environs du lieu, en 1655, l'ultime bataille avec L'Espagne qui
    consacra définitivement l'indépendance du Portugal.
    Arrêtez-vous sur la place du palais ducal. D'un côté, le Panthéon des Duchesses (aujourd'hui Pousada), l'église et le couvent des Changas de Christo. De l'autre le Panthéon des Ducs, l'église de Nossa Senhora da Graca et le monastère de Santo Agostinho.
    Au centre, la statue équestre de D. Joao IV, le premier roi de la dynastie de Braganca.
    Et, en toile de fond, le palais ducal. Alors, visite obligatoire, qui demande que vous passiez au moins plus d'une journée sur place.
    Tourisme Vila Vicosa 00351 268 889 317, Hospedaria Dom Carlos, en face du Tourisme, 00351 268 980 318, Restaurante Tasca O Necas 00351 268 881 197, GNR Posto Vila Vicosa 00351 268 980 469, Bon Chemin.

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  2. Baesuris History CuttingsNovember 17, 2014 at 10:52 PM

    Vila Vicosa, domitated by its bastioned castle which was the original "solar" or seat of the ducal family of Braganza, was briefly Edmund of Cambridge's headquarters in the Anglo-Portuguese campaign of 1382.
    The Paco Ducal is mainly 17th Century. It was here that the future Joao IV received the first overtures of the nationalist party, which were to bring about his accession in 1640.
    Catherine of Braganza was born here two years earlier, while Dom Carlos passed his last night here before his assassination in Lisbon in 1908.
    In the neighbourhood took place the battle of Montes Claros(June 1665), in which the Count-Duke Frederick of Schomberg, with a British contingent, befeated the Spanish under the Marquès de Caracena.
    Câmara Municipal Vila Vicosa 00351 268 889 310, Bombeiros V. Vila Vicosa 00351 268 889 160, Hotel Solar dos Mascarenhas 00351 268 886 000, Rest. Taverna dos Conjurados 00351 268 989 530.

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