200 years ago, the Royal House of Bragança sold one of the many hunting grounds of the king of Portugal and was born, in Monsaraz, one of the most important and productive homelands in the country. With its own chapel, bakery, bullring, vineyards, cereal fields, houses, workshops, stables, carpentry and school, in fact The St. Lawrence of Barrocal was never just a homeowner – it was an authentic village, where more than 50 families lived and all the essential goods were produced. They only went once a year to Reguengos de Monsaraz to buy fabrics at the market. Moreover, there was nothing missing.
Since 2016, the homestead is also no longer just a homestead – it is a five-star country hotel with spa, swimming pool, two restaurants, organic garden, shop, horses, cows, guided tours, picnics, organic production of olive oil and wine, a craft beer with poejo and also a collection of national and international tourism awards, several from Monocle magazine.
The entire recovery was rethought in a logic of respect and sharing, which is seen right from the beginning in the intervention signed by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, who earned him the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 2018
The peasants may have been replaced by white-shirted employees, but Monte Street continues with buildings on one side and the other, white arcades where swallows land looking for shade and numbered doors, which mark not the workers’ houses, as in the past, but the hotel rooms.
Contrary to the idea of a lifeless interior, there is an endless number of activities available without even leaving the property, from bike tours in which you can admire the highest menir of the country and the vineyards overlooking the castle of Monsaraz, to guided tours to discover the botany or archeology of the estate. Over the course of 780 hectares, there are also children’s workshops – which also have a toy room and a swimming pool of their own – horseback riding, outdoor pilates classes, lakeside picnics, wine tastings and treatments at the Susanne Kaufmann spa with products from the Austrian brand or from the organic garden itself. Five stars that at night multiply in the private astronomical sessions organized with the Dark Sky Alqueva.