Great World Heritage in Portugal. Rome in Alentejo region.

The Roman period in the Alentejo began in the 2nd century BC and lasted until the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. From these times, and from their influence on later periods, there remain many memories: mining and agricultural exploitation carried out on great estates crowned by luxurious and richly decorated houses (the Roman villas); ceramics industries, salt mines, fish-salting and shipbuilding; fortresses, temples, bridges, paved roads and pathways,

sanctuaries, theatres, dams, aqueducts; municipalities as the basis for the structure of local administration. And there remains with us, obviously, Latin as the mother tongue of the Portuguese.

The remains of this period can be visited in and from urban centres. Take a note and make these sites part of your itinerary.

On the Marvão – Alter do Chão – Monforte axis you should see the Civitas de Ammaia (S. Salvador de Aramenha, Marvão); the ponte (bridge) de Vila Formosa (road between Alter do Chão and Ponte de Sor); the villa at Torre de Palma (road between Monforte and Cabeço de Vide); and the Núcleo Museológico of the Igreja (church) da Madalena (Monforte).

In Évora, the Roman-Goth-Arab walls, the Roman temple, the Termas (baths) in the Paços do Concelho (Town Hall), the Arco (arch) de D. Isabel and the Casa de Burgos, all in the historical centre; outside the city, the Termas of the Roman Villa of Tourega (road from Évora to Alcaçovas). Between Alvito, Vidigueira, Cuba and Beja, the bridge at Vila Ruiva (road between Vila Ruiva and Albergaria dos Fusos) and the Roman villa of Cucufate and Casa do Arco (Vila de Frades).

In Beja, the Portas (gates) de Évora and de Avis the gigantic capitals next to the Regional Museum and the Núcleo Museológico Romano da Rua do Sembrano, where you will also find important vestiges of the Iron Age.

Between Beja, Castro Verde and Mértola, the Roman villa of Pisões (road from Beja to Aljustrel, next to Penedo Gordo); the Museu da Lucerna (museum of Roman lamps) (Castro Verde); and the Núcleo Museológico Romano (Mértola).

On the coast, the Estação Arqueológica de Miróbriga (Santiago do Cacém) and the Cripta (crypt) Arqueológica do Castelo (Alcácer do Sal), situated under the former Aracoeli convent.

from visitalentejo.com

Vinho de Talha - How Wines Are Made the Ancient Way in Portugal's Alentejo

by James Martin @about.com

Vinho de Talha - wines made in the roman way.

You can hardly avoid the Roman presence in Portugal's Alentejo region. It's not just the presence of Roman farm house ruins, each located within a few hundred meters of a modern farm house. Walk into any typical village "Adega" or "Taberna" and you'll likely be dwarfed by rows of massive amphorae or wine pots. Called "talha", these pots may be mere decoration--or they may actually contain up to 1000 liters of house-made wine called "vinho de talha" made exactly the way Romans made wine.

Pictured above is the Adega Regional Pais das Uvas, a restaurant which produces the vinho de talhait serves as a house wine along with traditional country fare from the Alentejo region of Portugal.

The owners were kind enough to allow me to watch the process by which grapes become vinho de talha, a wine which locals claim contains more vitamins, more aroma and more body. I can't vouch for the vitamins, but the wine poured at Pais das Uvas was certainly fragrant and deep, with an amazingly clarity, considering the simplicity of a process that doesn't include mechanical filtering or fining.

Follow along as we take you into the world of vinho de talha production. At the end of the journey you'll find information on visiting the restaurant and other tabernas serving vinho de talha and notes on where you can actually see people stomping grapes for top commercial wines in the Alentejo.