More Castles

Lynne decided she would like to try the river walk South from from Sanlucar.

It is a pleasant and interesting excusion on a very well maintained path.

There are many fincas ( some temporary, some temporary/permanent) established in the trees along the riverbank. There is very little road access so everything goes via the river.

It was seriously hot and there was a distinct lack of fruit trees overhanging the path offering a free orange or two. One of the fincas however had a help yourself backet of lemons on offer!

There were extensive cane areas, these are the things that constantly flow up and down the river on the tide.

We had been told that there was a swimming hole where the tributary coming in forces the path away from the river and back inland, it eas in fact just by the main road back into Sanlucar but provided a very welcome cool down swim. As we were sweltering in Spain the U.K.was also experiencing a heatwave and the moors on Winter Hill in front of our house in Horwich were burning. The peat had caught fire and the fire service and volunteers were battling for weeks to control the situation. Alex spoke to us of having to keep all the windows of the house closed and they would still choke on the smoke that descended into the village .

This is a picture taken from Belmont, Horwich is on the other side of the hill. The devastation would take years to recover from.

We had decided it was time to leave the Guardiana, we had started to look seriously at property, always a warning sign! We dropped back down the river on the ebb tide to Ayamonte, we had missed a religious festival but saw it recreated in a local shopping centre, in miniature of course.

On our way down river we had been intigued by the village of Castro Marim which was notable for having not one castle but two. After catching the ferry from Ayamonte to Villa Real we caught the bus to Castro Marim and walked up to the older looking cstle on the hill above the town.

The above photo is the ticket office and the chapel behind was hosting an exhibition of torture through the ages,,,,,

Of course decapitation is a bit more serious.

Unfortunately this being Portugal/Spain the Inquisition featured large, the Spanish inquisition should probably be referred to as the Iberian Inquisition.

This is a photo of the wheel as in being broken on...….

There was also an Iron Maiden.

And a delightful scolds bridle, not sure what the moustache represents..

The History of this particular fortress proved interesting. at one point it was the headquarters of the knights Templar who would later relocate to Tomar and reinvent themselves as the Order of Christ with the tacit agreement of King Dinas after they were effectively annihilated throughout Europe at the behest of the then Pope Clement V on charges of heresy. In actual fact it was largely a political move if not an outright langrab by the Catholic church.

However the fact remains that certainly in Portugal the Templars thrived, We had visited Tomar and been very impressed by the wealth and power of the order.

Of course all that was lost in the distant past and now only faint echoes remained. The Castle was obviously used for serious archeology and as a tourist attraction and performance venue, we believe medieval enactments occur throughout the summer.

The views across the salt pans towards the suspension bridge over the Guadiana were extensive, (salt is still commercially extracted here)

The photo above shows the present archeological digs below the keep walls which are out of bounds to visitors.

I do seem to make a habit of making Lynne walk around high walls even though I know she doesn't like heights, a selfie soon sorts that out, but in actual fact I believe she is getting more used to it!

These walls at least were closed on either side.

The walls enclosed a small village the keep is visible just in front of Lynne on the horizon and the chapel is to the right of the picture.

Above Lynnes head is the other castle, this one is of Moorish origin.

As we needed to go through the town to reach the other castle it seemed a good chance to explore the town. The church is a lovely building but unfortunately not open on the day of our visit, it has an unusual domed tower and separate bell tower.

The town is well worth a visit and has an enormous amount of history bound up in its architecture.

It takes a little detective work to find the path to the Moorish Castle, it is only possible to walk around the outer walls so possibly there is not the monetary incentive to make it more user friendly.

It is certainly an impressive structure in an equally impressive location.

Looking back the older Templar fortress is different in aspect and design.

Later we walked to the other important religious/historical site, the chapel of St Anthony which used to be a site of defence in roman times. It also being on a hill became a good site for windmills.

The Chapel and surroundings have been extensively restored and extended, with a water park which echoes the Moorish influences from the past.

Apart from the restaurant complex on the hill the main gardens are below.

They consist of a quite extraordinary set of structures, considering the size of the village.

They are obviously designed to have water flowing unfortunately this wasn't the case on our visit but you could imagine the effect. Regardless it had that Moorish peace, with green plants tiles and water that made you want to stay in the cool environs for a while.

So having glimpsed the town from the river weeks ago we had finally satisfied our curiousity.
job done, mischief managed. Its worth the trip.....

Oh nearly forgot, it also has the smallest lending library we have ever come across!

We went back over the river to Spain tired but happy, as we watched the sun set over Portugal we realised that we wouldn't see the country again for a while.

which was a bit sad...……….