Travel Writing - Pousada da Castelo de Palmela, Lisbon, Portugal

 

The courtyard/Cloisters by day and by night

The converted Convent, formerly of the Order of Santiago, is adjacent to a Castle built by the Moors in the 12th Century.










The convent refectory is now a dining room and features a preaching place overlooking the diners below.

It stands on a hilltop setting with breathtaking panoramic views and is 40 kms from Lisbon.

The view of the village of Palmela below is beautiful - tree tops, red tiled house tops, white walled buildings and the winding cobbled narrow streets greeting us visitors as warmly as the late afternoon sunshine.

 

In the hotel courtyard were wicker chairs upon white marbled slabs surrounded by the arches that made up the cloisters, once open to the elements but now with glass doors and windows with a celtic cross print on each.  I imagine dour faced black habited nuns walking softly from cell to chapel, arms folded and in silent contemplation after their morning duties.  Compline would be said, Psalms sang and Holy Orders observed.

 

Brass bowls on wooden stands perhaps once used for Holy water now contain sand for smokers to snub out their cigarettes before entering the building.  If the hotel bedrooms had once been cells they were very spacious and peaceful places.  The huge windows had dark wooden shutters to close out the weather or darkness of night when the twinkling of streetlights and homes below glowed like stars beyond the reach of nuns.  Were they a closed order I wonder?  The internet tells me the Order of Santiago was founded in 1502 and had several convents throughout Portugal and Spain.  The Order still exists under protection of the Spanish crown, but, it would seem, like many religious Orders, their numbers have vastly diminished.

 

The hotel was a sanctuary to us travellers/holiday makers - a place to rest awhile after a long journey from England.  It offered drinks and food to refresh us, had huge beds with soft white quilts and pillows to rest us and local staff to serve us as valued guests.  From here we explored Lisbon city and then onwards to Covilha, Fatima and into Spain.

 

It comes to you highly recommended by myself.  The only missing thing was tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms, as with all other hotels visited.  I will rate this place 4 stars of 5.