Attractions and Places To See around Vila Ruiva - Top 20

The Castle of Alvito (Castelo de Alvito) is a historic fortified residence located in the Alentejo region of Portugal, which since 1993 has hosted the Pousada Castelo Alvito, a luxury hotel belonging to the prestigious Pousadas de Portugal network.

Alvito Castle is a military monument and an inn, located in the village of Alvito, in the Alentejo region, in Portugal. It is considered an example of a fortified palace, which combined the functions of a fortress and a wealthy house. It also stands out for its combination of styles, with several Gothic and Manueline elements, and Islamic inspiration. (Source: Wikipedia) Alvito Castle is currently an inn.

Hermitage built at the beginning of the 16th century, it presents an architecture that can be framed within the Gothic-Mudejar style, an Alentejan particularity of the Gothic style. It is located at the edge of the village in order to protect it, through the patron saint – St. Sebastian –, from the plague. It held a mural painting campaign from the beginning of the 17th century that covered its entire interior. What currently remains, evidences the way of fresco painting specific to this region, namely, with the recurrence of the theme of musician angels. (Source: www.e-cultura.pt)

The Church of Santo António has been classified as a Monument of Public Interest since 2012. The church is located in Terreiro de Santo António, in the historic centre of the town. The building is in the Mannerist style, and still maintains the same layout in which it was built. It has a longitudinal plan, with a single nave and two side chapels. The exterior is quite sober in appearance, contrasting with the rich interior, which contains a Mannerist altarpiece in an aedicule, decorated with gilded carvings. It is divided into three parts, with the lower and central parts decorated with scenes alluding to Saint Anthony, while the upper part depicts the Holy Trinity. Other elements of interest include the paintings on the vault of the chancel, in the proto-baroque style, and the set of blue and white tiles, with albarradas, made in the late 17th century. The church was built in the 1640s and was supposed to be part of a convent dedicated to Saint Anthony, but it was never built.

Picnic Park, Santa Susana

The chapel of S. Sebastião is one of the monuments in Alvito that is part of the Fresco Route (see information about the Fresco Route), due to the beauty and heritage importance of the fresco paintings that can be seen inside. Located in the Rossio area, the chapel was probably built before 1535, although its authorship is unknown. It is a Manueline style building, with Mudejar influences (similar to the chapel of S. Brás, in Évora). The plan is simple, consisting of a single nave and a main chapel. The vaults of both the nave and the main chapel are painted in fresco, with figures of musical angels and are believed to have been designed by José de Escobar (a resident of Évora).

Situated at a high point in the midst of the Alentejo plains, and offering extensive views over the distant horizons, the graceful town of Alvito has grown around its palatial castle, where the Pousada de Alvito is now housed. The white houses give Alvito the distinct and unmistakable appearance of an Alentejo town, many of them having doors framed by Manueline-style arches, revealing their seventeenth-century origin. The settlement of this town dates back to the early days of the Portuguese monarchy. The town was granted its first charter by the king D. Dinis in 1327, later confirmed by D. Manuel in 1516. The Alvito Castle, whose construction began in 1494, is undoubtedly one of the most curious buildings of its kind in Portugal. Visiting it helps to evoke memories of the town´s historical past. The long Moorish presence in this region left its distinctive marks in the Mudejar architecture clearly visible in various monuments (which laymen can easily recognise through the small cupolas and white-painted conical pinnacles). The parish church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção, dating back to the early sixteenth century, has certain exterior decorative features that clearly identify it as an example of Mudejar architecture. A modest Renaissance doorway leads to the interior, its walls covered in azulejo panels whose beautiful patterns are a harmonious blend of blue and yellow. In the upper choir, there is a large seventeenth-century altarpiece of carved and gilded wood. The same Mudejar influence is also to be noted in the small fortified chapel of São Sebastião, crowned by an array of chamfered merlons. Inside, painted on the vaulted Gothic ceiling are frescos depicting musical angels. Attention is also drawn to the town hall with its picturesque clock tower, a typical feature of Alentejo architecture. Two almost adjoining churches, the Igreja da Misericórdia and the Igreja da Senhora das Candeias (the latter housing a museum of Sacred Art), are equally interesting buildings of some architectural merit, as is the small chapel of Santa Luzia on the outskirts of the town, which was originally a Muslim oratory.

The Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Assunção de Alvito, as it is officially known, was built in the late 13th or early 14th century and was dedicated to Santa Maria de Alvito at the time. Between 1485 and 1535, it underwent extension work, with almost all of the walls being knocked down. Archaeologist Jorge Feio assures us that “it is still possible to see architectural elements from the first phase. The extension is identical to the Igreja Matriz de Viana do Alentejo, so it may have been designed by the same architects (the Arrudas family, architects of the Court)”. Dom João Fernandes da Silveira, the first Baron of Alvito (and of Portugal), is buried in this church. Its greatest wealth is fundamentally in its interior, through the gilded carved altars (the one on the main altar was placed between 1692 and 1705) and the tiles: those in the main chapel were placed before 1625, and others, “Persian carpet type”, some of them using only yellow and white, “very rare”, which decorate the body of the church, dating from 1647.