CHAPTER XII
THE ancient city of Thomar, overlooked by its wonderful Convent of the Order of Christ upon the hill behind, is one of the most interesting spots in Portugal from an æsthetic, as well as from an historic point of view. It can be reached from Coimbra in three, or Lisbon in four hours, the nearest station to it, Payalvo, being situated on the east line of the two railroads which converge at Coimbra for the north. The route from the capital skirts the Tagus, sometimes near, sometimes at a distance, for the greater part of the way. Scattered olive orchards, quintas with their vineyards, diversify the view with long, marsh-like stretches broken up with salt pans, and the deep red or white sails of boats moving up some narrow channels in the flat lending an aspect almost Dutch to the picture as seen from the train.
The Valley de Santarem is a wooded, fertile hollow between hills, with houses here and there; vines spread to the plain of the Tagus, aloes are a frequent feature, and the cactus barrier; heath-like patches spread between the trees, and the banks have flowering cistus bushes as prolific as the wild rose. A long, narrow bridge spans the Tagus beneath the picturesque high site of the city of Santarem, which has figured in all the wars of the country. From the olive groves in the vicinity comes the finest oil in Portugal. In the distance, on a rock in the river, stands the old castle of Almourel, the subject of many a poetic legend, and considered one of the most unique, beautiful specimens of Gothic architecture in the Peninsula. Cork trees seem abundant everywhere, and we pass through a vast forest of them, the Matto de Miranda, with long vistas and stretches of heath and rolling ground reminiscent of the New Forest.
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