alentejo at 40 degrees, and this spot so cool
Portagem is a village at the bottom of the Sever river valley, at the foot of Marvão. A dam holds back the river and creates a long pool between two bridges, with grass on the banks, big trees for shade and stone benches. In August, with the rest of the Alto Alentejo at 40 degrees, the temperature there drops five to seven degrees. So it fills up. Spaniards arrive from Valencia de Alcántara and the surrounding area, on the other side of the border a few kilometres away, and join the Portuguese visitors from Marvão and Castelo de Vide. It's loud and packed in high summer, but it works for what it offers: cold mountain water running through a valley with history.
On the upper side, the 16th-century granite bridge crosses the river with around 50 metres of deck. Many people think it's Roman and they're wrong: the stones came from Ammaia, the abandoned Roman city a few minutes from the valley. The bridge itself is from the 16th century. Next to it, a medieval tower, which gives the place its name (this is where travellers paid the toll to cross), keeps in its granite walls the memory of the Jewish fugitives expelled by the Catholic Monarchs. On the lower side, a pedestrian bridge over the dam itself offers a full view of the pool. In a deeper section, three to four metres, is where people usually jump from the bridge; the rest is shallower and quieter.
Two walking trails leave from here. One follows the course of the river. The other climbs up to Marvão, through the Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, with the quartzite village always visible up on top. It's the natural way to combine the morning (swim) with the rest of the day (climb to the castle), or the other way around. Those who come out of season find the spot almost empty, with the water even colder.
worth knowing
- in August and July weekends it fills up, with many visitors coming from Spain; before 10am or after 6pm it's a different beach
- the deepest section, three to four metres, is about a hundred metres upstream from the pedestrian bridge; that's where people jump
- the 16th-century granite bridge isn't Roman, despite appearances; it was built in the 16th century using stones from Ammaia
- the temperature in the valley stays five to seven degrees below the surrounding plain in high summer
- the Spanish border is a few kilometres away, which explains the strong presence of Spanish visitors in August
