COLOURFULWORLD

Saturday 4 June 2016

Portugal - Cascais : the town and it's architecture

Following from my previous post about my walk around Cascais, today I'll show you some of the beautiful buildings in the area.

Town Hall



The building above is the Cascais Town Hall - located at the "Praça 5 de Outubro" (5th October Square), IN THE CENTRE OF CASCAIS.  The former palace of the "Condes da Guarda" (Counts of Guarda), has a few tile panels on it's facade depicting Saints - St John, St Anthony, St Marc and St Lucas.


St Anthony tile panel at the Cascais city council

Dom Pedro I

In this Square you can also see the Statue of D.Pedro I, the famous king from the love story of Ines de Castro and Pedro. It was during his reign that he received the "Charter" of Cascais.



The famous Irish pub O'Neills also faces the Square with it's ondulated cobbled pavement as well as having a view of the "Praia da Ribeira" (Ribeira beach) across the road.

The Beaches

Fishermen's Beach

Ribeira Beach, also known as Fishermen's beach, is mainly used by the fishermen as it's next to the port and the fish market. Because it's a small beach it can become quite full in Summer, but the fish smell can be a bit overwhelming too

Architecture

My favourite house -top right
Another favourite - top left


Above, some of the varied architectural styles, and below a variety of window and door styles  and tiled street name plaques.

Windows, Doors & other details



Casa da Guia 


Another former Palace from the 19th Century, it was the summer house of the Counts of Alcáçovas, located at Avenida Nossa Senhora do Cabo 101, on the way to Guincho, just 2,3km from the Town Hall. The remodeled palace now houses boutiques, hair and beauty salon, and the outdoor area has got a few cafes and restaurants with wonderful views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Casa da Guia, outdoor areas (Aerial photo from the internet)

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The Fort of Our Lady of Light




Main entrance to the Cidadela and Fort

Also known just as "The Cascais Fort", it was started in 1594. During the earthquake of 1755 it was greatly damaged. With the use of firearms, the fort lost it's defensive function.
During the 20th century renovation of the fort took place and the building is classified as a site of public interest. This fort now owned by the Portuguese Government is mainly used by the Army and also serves as the summer residence of the Portuguese President.

Inside there is an upscale Hotel - Pousada de Cascais – Cidadela Historic Hotel.

Gelados Santini - Santini's Ice Creams

Enjoying our ice-creams - My Mom, my middle sister, my niece and my daughter
I couldn't leave Cascais without going to the famous Santini's, the ice-cream shop opened since 1949, to savour one of their hundreds of ice-cream flavours. 
On their site they have 68 flavours!!
I had a double scoop - Dulce de Leite and Brigadeiro.
It was a long wait since the queue was out the door, but it was worth it!

Heaven...on earth!


Hope you enjoyed the visit to Cascais and I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

After the Monday Mural post, the next one will be about another beautiful town -  Sintra.

15 comments:

  1. Nunca fui a esse bar irlandês. A ver se passamos por lá.
    Gostei de tudo. Cascais vale muito a pena! E as senhoras da família parecem todas irmãs umas das outras, umas mais velhas, outras mais novas, mas todas irmãs. ;-))
    Beijinho!

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    1. Obrigada Sandra pelo elogio. O O' Neills é interessante e está sempre cheio à noite.

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  2. The Town Hall is really very beautiful, I love the blue colors.
    What a sad love-story...
    An Irish Pub?
    "Oerwhelming" :-) Reminds me of Carnarvon, there was a rubbish bin where hobby-fishermen threw in fish-heads, why ever. Ewwww...

    All made with so much love for detail, beautiful - obviously even the ice-cream!

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    1. Maybe overwhelming was a bit strong...I'm sure fish heads don't get thrown out at all, the Portuguese like their fish whole, heads are used for soups. Yes, a lot of beautiful details, very talented and clever craftsmen we had centuries ago.

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  3. The architecture you showed was incredible. The colors, the varied styles, and the beauty of it all was breathtaking. What got me were the streets, though. We don't have patterned streets in the US, except possibly in walking malls where vehicles are not allowed. Everything right down to the street is simply perfect. I can see why it's so popular with tourists.

    You certainly have a beautiful family. And I could use some ice cream about now (grin).

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. The limestone cobblestone pavements and some streets are very typical in Portugal - all hand made of course!

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  4. I can see you have a great time in your homeland and that icecream looks delicious.

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    1. Thanks Marianne, yes I had a good time with the family, and that ice-cream was great too!!

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  5. Dearest Sami,
    Wow, thank you for taking us to Cascais and what an interesting story... a very sad one about Inês though. How cruel a father can be to his son.
    Oh, the architecture is so lovely and I agree with your favorites; one would love to transplant them to enjoy more often -- aside from having their photo taken.
    Your Mom looks so young and happy and your middle sister is a good clone of her. Your daughter for sure had a special time as well.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Thanks you Mariette. Glad you enjoyed Cascais and my favourites. I agree that my sister looks a lot like my Mom.

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  6. No wonder there is a huge queue with 68 delicious ice-creams to choose from! I wonder if they have the 'phlish food' flavour ice-cream I came across here this week?! I did think of you when we ordered Portuguese tarts in Macau! Looks a wonderfully happy family day out :)
    Wren x

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    1. Hi Wren, what does "phlish food" flavour taste like? Sound weird!!
      Thanks for thinking of me while eating Portuguese tarts. I think I only thought of my hips when I ate a couple of them in Portugal...

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  7. Portugal just looks wonderful and everything I thought it would look like.

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    1. Thank you Andrew, very old world charm, beautiful monuments...

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  8. This is what we call the real beauty! I cannot wait to explore the beautiful Town Hall. I think, it’s time to apply for my Portugal visa .

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