QUINTA DOS CANTARINHOS

HISTORIC PROPERTY

Quinta dos Cantarinhos has been an unmissable place in Portalegre since its opening. Northeast of Portalegre. in the old Pena de São Tomé'", located at the top of the Serra de São Mamede, at six hundred and seventy-three meters altitude, we find the Herdade dos Cantarinhos, which has in the heart of its grounds a magnificent residence that appears to have originated in a tower manor, today uninhabited (since 2017) but still intact. This tower is part of a housing complex built from its south and west sides, from which two two-story wings depart, joined by a third, to form a courtyard interior. Access to these wings is through granite portals with a Mannerist appearance, which indicate that they date back to the 17th century, which would be quite expected. Judging by the pavilions attached to most of the Alentejo "domus fortis", also from that period. The Tower is now accessible from the first floor of the wings built to the south and west, and is architecturally added to the complex, painted white, like the other buildings, and devoid of crenellations, although it is still a volume that stands out above the roofs. Despite being made up of only two floors, it rises fourteen meters high. On a square base with eight meters on a side. It should be noted, however, that the facade. This has a row of four corbels on which a balcony probably sat, which could demonstrate the previous existence of a third floor or a balcony inspired by the terrace of the Torre de Coelheiros. The ground floor is accessible through a recent door and is currently used only for storage. The first floor, with high ceilings, features a window with conversation tables, a window door, two access doors to the adjacent wings and a narrow access door to the helical staircase. The ceiling is covered by a starry vault profusely decorated with floral motifs, ropes, acanthus leaves and the coat of arms of the Sousas de Arronches in the center of the complex. On the exterior of the facades, we highlight two spans of Manueline ornamentation in very degraded granite, one on the East facade in a double arch with two archivolts of bases with Manueline decoration of ropes and basketwork carved into four lobes, on the top, and framed with motifs of balls from the same decorative chain. On the north side, it is clearly visible from the outside, with a cylindrical tower attached to it containing a helical staircase that today only connects the first floor to the terrace, although apparently it is a more recent construction. We remember that this way of placing the staircase is also observed in the Torre do Carvalhal and the Torre da Giesteira, although, unfortunately, we do not know whether they were built before or after the Torre dos Cantarinhos.