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Only a few kilometres from the centre of
Vila Nova da Barquinha
on a rocky isle in the centre of the
Rio Tejo,
is perhaps the most prominent of the town's monuments,
Almourol
Castle. The castle, reconstructed by the Knights
Templar in the 12th century under the
leadership of Grand Master
Gualdim Pais castles were constructed along
the banks of the Tejo as a line of defence to help drive the Moors out
of Portugal.
Almourol
Castle is perhaps one of the most romantic looking of
all the castles in this line of defence. However it's fairytale like
crenels which give it this mystical look were added hundreds of years
later during reconstruction once again.
There are four villages, which including
the town itself, make up the municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha -
Atalaia, Moita do Norte, Tancos and Praia do Ribatejo. The
town of Vila Nova da Barquinha is easy to locate and has good access
links to the A23, east west dual carriageway as well as having a main
line train station providing easy transit to Lisbon. Vila Nova da Barquinha has
a selection of cafe bars, restaurants, shops, mini-markets, health
centres, post office, schools and parks. |
