The Surroundings
A Charming Village Tradition lives here
We are located in the beautiful village of Alcochete, a place that has always benefited from a unique landscape beauty. The Tagus River right here, embracing the village and receiving the most wonderful sunset that can be contemplated.
There are words that say a lot about Alcochete, like the emblematic expression that defines the town: “The Light of Alcochete”. Here the Sun really has a different brightness and its “Sunset” seen from Alfoz remains forever in the memory of those who experience it!
The location in the middle of the Tagus Estuary gives Alfoz an exceptional environment.
Alcochete is not only breathtaking sceneries, like Praia dos Moinhos, or Salinas do Samouco. There is a lot of tradition, a lot of religious architectural buildings that are worth visiting such as the Church of São João Batista or the Church of Misericórdia, which people say was part of the former Palace of the Infantes of Beja, where D. Manuel I was born.
The traditions, such as the Barrete Verde and Salinas Festivities, are the exponent of much popular and associative activity that characterizes this town.
Be sure to taste the greatest exponent of Alcochete’s confectionery, the famous Fogaça de Alcochete.
The Alfoz Environment
Barrete Verde and Salinas Festivities
These are the longest days and nights in Alcochete!
Nobody is indifferent to the traditional Barrete Verde and Salinas Festivities, and year after year, thousands and thousands of visitors come to our town in search of joy, excitement and fellowship!
Felt as the most genuine tradition in Alcochete, the Barrete Verde and Saltpans Festivities have their high point in the second weekend of August.
Nationally recognized for its charisma and bullfighting tradition, the Festivities are organized by the Aposento do Barrete Verde, in close collaboration with the City Council, maintaining and revitalizing year after year the strong festive tradition of this riverside people.
The Concerts and Shows every night, with one of the highlights, which is the Night of the Grilled Sardines, during which thousands of people follow joyfully behind the Charanga, filling the streets of the village with color and life, with choreographies created spontaneously and that last into the night, until the sunrise, are icons of these festivities.
The Barrete Verde and Salinas Festivals are a mixture of feelings, emotion, and fun, where fado happens on every corner, flamenco echoes through alleys and lanes.
Source: CMA
The Alfoz Environment
Salt Flats of Samouco
This is one of the great riches of the Region.
With a centennial history, the Salinas de Samouco are rooted in the genesis of what it is to be Alcochetano, creating in the body and soul of these men a way of being honored and with great respect for nature.
Comprising an area of 360 hectares, the Samouco Salt Plants Complex is a feeding, refuge, and nesting place for thousands of birds, where species such as the little tern, black-winged stilt, and the Kentish plover stand out.
Currently, the Samouco Salt Plants are presented as the salt pan with the greatest richness and abundance of birds during high tide in the whole Tagus.
Its proximity to the largest and most important wetland in Portugal, the Tagus Estuary, makes the salt pans a great place of shelter for many aquatic birds that during their migrations, find in the different ponds, a great place to feed and rest. Already in the nesting season, the birds find ideal conditions for breeding.
The salt produced by the Foundation is certified and intended for different uses, namely, gastronomy, swimming pools, control and weed vegetation, and irrigation for glasswort production.
Flôr de Sal forms on the surface of the crystallizers, is harvested by hand, and contains components that enrich its taste over any other salt, especially in salads, raw and grilled dishes.
Source: CMA
The Alfoz Environment
Fogaça de Alcochete
Confectionery has always been an important aspect in the Life of Alcochete and of Alcochetanos.
Among others, the candy that most speaks to the population, and if not the most, one of the most emblematic sweets of Alcochete is the fogaça.
From XV century, it is a cake that is always present in festivities and is much appreciated by all who have had the opportunity to taste it! With a strong taste of cinnamon and lemon, crispy on the outside but soft inside, the fogaça is related to the paschal feast of the Alcochete Seafarers’ Shrine, which has in its origin a promise from the Alcochete boatmen to Our Lady of Atalaia after being saved from a storm at sea.
Since then the fogaças are an obligatory part of this Festival, and are auctioned on the Monday of the Cirio, continuing to assert themselves as a masterpiece of local sweets. It is a certified candy nowadays, and you can buy it in the best bakeries, pastry stores, and local stores.
If you come to Alcochete it is mandatory to taste and take back in your luggage the famous Fogaça de Alcochete.
Source: CMA
Gastronomy
Nature
Parties
The Alfoz A place of Cult, where Time passes quietly
