Easy hikes and walks around Fortios

An old, stone-paved road leads from Portagem through cork oak forests up to Marvão. A strenuous journey in summer. The scenery is breathtaking.

A small church on the banks of the Rio Sever at the entrance to the Roman bridge, a beautiful monument for anyone interested in religious architecture.

The medieval toll tower of Portagem is said to have existed as early as 1416, but its origins probably go back even further. It has a square floor plan and was intended to guard the bridge, where tolls were collected from people and goods crossing.

The (former) river beach of Portagem is a charming spot at the foot of the Marvao mountain. In summer, when temperatures in Alentejo can rise above 40°C, it offered a refreshing escape into the cool, dammed waters of the Rio Sever. There's now a modern outdoor swimming pool across the street. A real shame, really.

Aerial view of the highlands of Portalegre and km and km of the Alto Alentejo plain.

Cruz do Cume is a small crossroads located in the Serra de São Mamede, in the district of Portalegre, in the northeast of Alentejo, near the city of Portalegre. It is located about 1 km downhill from Alto de São Mamede, which is the highest point in the mountain range at 1025 metres above sea level. This location is known as a good birdwatching spot, especially for species such as the crested tit and the linnet, and is surrounded by pine forests that are home to other birds such as the crested tit and the coal tit. Cruz do Cume also serves as a support and access point for outdoor activities, such as hiking and trail running, and is a stopover point for important races such as the Ultra Trail São Mamede (UTSM). In short, Cruz do Cume is an emblematic location in the Serra de São Mamede, valued for its nature, birdlife and relevance for mountain sports.

The City of Ammaia is the most important Roman ruin in the Northern Alentejo region. Set in the Natural Park of Serra de São Mamede, in São Salvador de Aramenha, near the town of Marvão, the ruins cover almost 25 metric acres. The Roman City of Ammaia was only rediscovered in the last century. It has since been excavated and investigated by scientists from around the world. It is now a museum site. For years the Roman remains were thought to be a villa, but only at the beginning of the last century did one begin to realize that what was buried in the Valley of Aramanha was an actual lost Roman city. Built from scratch in the first century AD, it was a city with a forum, baths and temples over the next three hundred years. The city suffered after the collapse of Rome on the Peninsula in the 3rd century. By the time of the Moorish invasion the 9th century, the remaining residents fled to high hills of Marvão - easy to defend in a time of chaos. Ammaia's stones served to build other places, walls and monuments. The bridge would stand until the 1980s. Pillaged, looted for stone, and buried until at the beginning of the twentieth century the existence of a large city in that area was forgotten. In the 1950s the first excavations were carried out and in recent decades the scope was also intensified, which also was helped by new technologies.

Located very close to the pretty town of Marvão, in the heart of the Alentejo, in the heart of the Serra de S. Mamede Natural Park, the ruins of the Roman city of Ammaia are located in an area of great beauty, attesting to its great heritage. In 1995, archaeological excavations began on the site, uncovering around 3,000 m2, although it is believed that the original area of the city was around twenty hectares. The curious thing about these ruins is that in the 5th and 9th centuries they suffered the effects of a cataclysm that buried the lower part of the urban area, thus belonging to one of the few cities of the empire that, probably due to natural effects, remained preserved and on which no other urban developments were developed throughout history. It is thus possible to study the entire urban fabric of a Roman city, highlighting important structures such as the “podium” of a temple probably from the 1st century, and the existence of public baths, as well as other domestic structures. There is a “site museum” on site, the Ammaia City Monographic Museum, which shows the daily life of the population that lived here, as well as the various objects found and inventoried here, including one of the most important collections of Roman glass in the Iberian Peninsula. A large part of the area occupied by the ruins is located on land owned by the Ammaia City Foundation, whose primary objective is to study, restore and preserve this important National Monument.