Dom Dinis Marvao
The hilltop fortress town of Marvao is one of the jewels of the Serra de Sao Mamede Natural Park. The Moors were the first to appreciate the strategic importance of this 800m high granite plateau, which dominates the landscape from Castelo da Vide to where the Rio Sever forms a natural border with Spain.
King Dom Afonso Henrique took Marvao from the Moors in the 12th century, on his crusade to create the Kingdom of Portugal. Afonso’s descendant Dom Dinis created the fortified version of Marvao 100 years later, to defend against cross-border threats from the neighbouring kingdoms of Leon and Castile. Many of the structures you see today date back to this period: the imposing curtain wall with its integrated bastions, the Igreja de Santa Maria church (now home to the Museu Municipal), and the medieval townhouse which was to become the Dom Dinis Marvao hotel and bear his name.
There are just nine air-conditioned ensuite rooms in total – Standard Doubles, Castle View Rooms and Mountain View Rooms – all decorated in soft, natural tones with traditional Alentejo terracotta-tiled floors. There’s also a wonderful rooftop terrace which provides sweeping, panoramic views across Sao Mamede countryside.
