Montemor-o-Novo is a city in the Alentejo region in the Évora district. It’s the second largest city in the district being only surpassed by the capital, Évora which is located about 30 km away.
I made a short stop for lunch in Montemor-o-Novo when I went by car 
from Porto to Évora. You can read here all the posts I published about my trip to Alentejo in the summer.
In the historic center of the city we explore various attractions such as the Igreja Matriz, the Municipal Library Almeida Faria and the Public Garden. However, one of the main attractions of the city is its castle. Due to its proximity to Spain, this castle was one of our safeguards against Castile during the Restoration War and it was still important in 1808 at the time of the French invasions. Historical documents prove that it was there that Vasco da Gama planned his trip to India at the time of the Discoveries. Unfortunately it was so hot 
(really horrible…) that we didn’t have the courage to go to the castle. I’m sorry but it remains for a next trip to Alentejo lands.
Lunch at Patio dos Petiscos
As I said before, we stopped in Montemor-o-Novo for lunch before continuing the trip to Évora. We chose to go to Pátio dos Petiscos, a traditional restaurant that my boyfriend’s father had read good feedback. The restaurant is quite large and serves mostly tapas with regional products. We tried 4 different tapas and they were all absolutely delicious:
- Trilogy of sautéed mushrooms with sweet potatoes
- Brás from Iberian pork farinheira
- Peixinhos da horta with asparagus (similar to tempura)
- Puff of tomatada and poached egg
The service at the restaurant was brutal. The waiter helped us choose the tapas and indicated the right quantities. All the dishes were incredible and it was perfectly clear that they were freshly made. I intend to go back there to try other tapas. I definitely recommend it!
Almendres Menhir
After lunch, even with the infernal heat, we chose to go to the Almendres Cromlech. Bad option because the road is in terrible condition, with holes and we feel that the car was always scraping the bottom. Because of that, we only went to the Almendres Menhir, which was halfway there and which is, in a simple way, a big stone stuck in the ground (at least for me!). However, it’s one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe, being 3.5 meters high and 1.3 km from the Almendres Cromlech. Its location coincides with the alignment for the summer solstice sunrise 
. Bear in mind that to reach the Menhir, you need to walk about 300 meters on a dirt track.
This is all for my post about Montemor-o-Novo. Be aware that soon there will be several posts about other Alentejo lands. Follow me on instagram that I always notice when a new post is released.
