Posted on by David

9-19-17 Mateus Palace

Tuesday and we off to the Mateus Palace. This is the place where the rosé wine we all drank a long time ago comes from. Remember the bottle that is squat and round? Kind of like the WWI canteens the solders use to carry? The bottles show the Palace – designed by an Italian-born architect and built in the 18th Century.

Classic Mateus wine bottle

Well, that’s the place. The baroque masterpiece is NOT where the wine is made anymore but still a beautiful spot to visit. We had been here on our first trip to Portugal so we opted to skip the guided tour of the interior and went straight to the gardens.

However, just incase you want to know what the place looks like there are a few pictures and some general facts for your reading enjoyment. Surrounding the palace is a fantasy of a garden, with tiny boxwood hedges; prim statues and a fragrant cypress tunnel that’s blissfully cool on even the hottest days. This is where we headed immediately upon arrival.

This is the view you get as you approach the Palace. The “lake” is not very big but gives a nice separation between the Palace and the approach road.
The granite wings shelter a lichen-encrusted forecourt dominated by an ornate stairway and guarded by rooftop statues.

 

The back of the house at the Fountain.
The Chapel and steeple is lovely.
More boxwood in the lower garden.
The boxwood was very well cared for and trimmed to perfection.
Janeen doesn’t recall seeing any persimmon tree this big.
Janeen pointing out all the fruit on this huge persimmon tree.
Janeen with that strange plant again.
This strange plant, in the garden, seemed like it was producing ‘popcorn’. The white buds were that shape. No clue what it was.
There were apples, pears and other fruit trees – not being well cared for but clearly doing OK on their own.
Maintenance – that’s the key here. I couldn’t maintain this that’s for sure.
A nice fountain as the focal point on the upper garden.

 

Here’s our boat and home for a week on the Douro River.
So far, after being on the road now for 3 months, she hasn’t pushed me off the edge of the cliff!

After spending quality time in the garden we joined up with the group and boarded the bus for the return trip to the Boat.