From Friday, May 23, 2025 until Sunday, May 25, members of the Society enjoyed a journey through history, centered on some unique places in the north of Portugal: Casa da Ínsua, near Mangualde, Viseu, and the cod fishing history of Ílhavo as well as the Vista Alegre complex nearby. Our eclectic group of 30 participants included 16 different nationalities, which was described as a record for a group booking at our hotel, the Parador Casa da Ínsua (see below).
Departing Lisbon on Friday morning, out first stop was at the Restaurante Albatroz, in the town of Fornos, near Coimbra, a region famous for leitão (suckling pig). Following a very enjoyable meal, we continued to our destination for the night, the Parador Casa da Ínsua. On arrival we enjoyed an in-depth tour of the Quinta Insua conducted by our extremely knowledgeable guide, José Luís Nogueira. Begun in the 16th century, the palace was the home of three generations of Albuquerques. Members of the family served in various capacities in India and later in Brazil. The current building dates from the 1780s and was built by Luís de Albuquerque, governor of Mato Grosso in Brazil. He was responsible for expanding the borders of Brazil to the west. Later, at the end of the 19th century, the architect Nicola Bigaglia and the painter and sculptor Leopoldo Luigi Batistini contributed greatly to the splendour of the house. Also, during this period Casa da Ínsua was a pioneer in the introduction of electricity to Portugal. Beginning in about 2005, the house was restored and transformed into a historic hotel by the Visabeira group, preserving its character and enabling the public to easily visit.
The house and grounds of Casa da Ínsua contain many fascinating details, including the bell tower with a clock, and an entrance with the genealogy of the family decorating the ceiling and Castilian weapons and hunting and fishing artifacts of the Amazonian Indians decorating the walls. There is a complex sundial, with time, date and season of the year. The house features beautiful azulejos, original wallpapers produced in 1827, elaborately decorated fireplaces and ceilings, and portraits of Luís de Albuquerque and the other members of the family as well as other paintings. On display are maps, plans and drawings of Luís de Albuquerque showing his role in the expansion of territory for Portugal, beyond the limits defined in the Treaty of Madrid of 1750. In addition, the drawings of animals and plants from journeys carried out in Brazil provide an insight into the frontier region. The Casa also contains a Chapel, which features the Mother of God, painted by Pedro Alexandrino, and an altar with Sao Teotónio, the first Portuguese saint and right-hand man of Afonso Henriques, Portugal’s first king.
Near the main house is the Casa da Electricidade, with displays of the introduction of electricity from 1894 onwards. This allowed the use of electric equipment such as the olive oil press. Agricultural production at Casa Ínsua was such a model that it was used as a basis for the first economic plans of the Estado Novo government. The beautiful gardens surrounding the house have several different areas including a small hidden pool that reflects the entire façade of the house. Our guide Luis Nogueira highlighted that Casa da Ínsua is the only place in the world where three demarcated Regions coexist: Dão Wine, Serra da Estrela Cheese and Bravo de Esmolfe Apple! In the evening, we had dinner at the Casa followed by a movie, which had been filmed almost exclusively at the Casa da Insua. The 2006 film, Viúva Rica Solteira Não Fica ('A Wealthy Widow Won't Stay Single for Long') by José Fonseca e Costa, was the first completely digital Portuguese film. It is a dark comedy that comments on the attitudes of Portuguese society in the 1890s. Luis described it as “a true masterpiece of humour, intelligence, aesthetic and musical beauty, but also of tolerance and education”.
On Saturday, a short trip by coach took us to the Palácio dos Condes de Anadia, in Mangualde (see above), which dates from 1644. The family trace their origins to the 13th century. The palace is a magnificent example of 18th century Baroque design in Portugal, the architecture being attributed to Gaspar Ferreira, the creator of the Joanine Library of the University of Coimbra. The azulejos (above) on the walls of the main staircase and some of the other rooms are especially noteworthy. The Palácio has extensive gardens of around 50 hectares, including 10 hectares of grapes used to produce its own wine, which the group had the opportunity to taste at the end of the tour of the house. Following the tour, the group enjoyed a lunch at the Restaurante Cascate de Pedra in Mangualde.
After lunch the coach took us to Viseu, where there was time for a self-guided tour of the Grão Vasco Museum where several national treasures are on display, such as the impressive Pyx, an ivory hostiary from the 15th century. The group was then able to visit the nearby Cathedral of Viseu with its altarpiece of the main chapel by the painter Grão Vasco (Vasco Fernandes). We then returned to the Casa da Ínsua to enjoy a drink on the terrace and an opportunity to walk in the gardens before dinner.
On Sunday we had an early start to visit to the Ílhavo Maritime Museum, the Santo André Ship-Museum (above, right), the ‘Dutch style’ houses at Costa Nova and the Vista Alegre complex. The Maritime Museum (above, left) is sometimes referred to as the Codfish Museum and is one of the most visited museums in north-central Portugal. The architecture is notable, and the building was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2003. The museum tells the story of cod fishing and houses a schooner and the accompanying dory boats used by Portuguese cod fishermen in the North Atlantic. The dangers and difficulty of life as a fisherman are vividly communicated in the exhibits. The museum even has an aquarium with live cod (above, centre). The Navio-Museu Santo André was the next stop on our itinerary. The Santo André is a modern fishing schooner permanently in the harbour at Ìlhavo, which offered a contrast to the wooden boats of the Maritime Museum. For centuries cod fishing played an important role in the region along the central coast of Portugal as the men spent months at sea and the women were employed in the drying of the cod. Life of the community was centred on cod fishing and the departure of the fishing fleet each year was a major religious and community event.
We then drove through Costa Nova to see the remarkable Dutch-style houses of the area (above, left). These houses are painted with colourful stripes, some blue and white others in yellow or green. The next stop was the Vista Alegre Ílhavo hotel where we enjoyed a delicious lunch in the hotel restaurant. After lunch, Luis Nogueira was once again our guide for a tour of the hotel and the museum (above, right and below). He shared his extensive knowledge of history of the factory and the more recent creation of the hotel.
On our tour of the hotel we saw the Carrapichel Fountain, dating from 1796, with the inscription that furnished the name of Vista Alegre to the porcelain factory. It reads, Bebe, pois, bebe à vontade. Acharás que é (muitas vezes) tão útil para a saúde quão para a vista alegre. "Drink, therefore, drink at will. You will find it (often) as useful for health as it is for cheerful sight." Within the hotel, the Bar Real Fábrica and the Sala Raízes, recall the origins of the factory, created by the royal decree of D. João VI, on 1st July, 1824. Throughout the hotel Vista Alegre art is embodied on all the walls, with original pieces produced exclusively for the decoration of the hotel. There are also drawings by the factory's artists painted on the walls, throughout the hotel. The founder's room commemorates José Ferreira Pinto Basto, founder of the factory and Vista Alegre, as well as the achievements of João Theodoro Pinto Basto, his great-grandson who developed it. Incorporated into the hotel is the Chapel of Vista Alegre or Chapel of Our Lady of Penha de França, built by Bishop Manuel de Moura Manuel. The stunning interior, with the painting of the ceiling is the work of the Spaniard, Gabriel del Barco (above, right), a painter who soon learned to be a tile maker and painted the tiles with religious scenes, which fill all the walls.
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The visit on the itinerary was the visit to the Vista Alegre Museum, the oldest in Portugal, first mentioned 1838. With the construction of the present hotel, in 2015, the Vista Alegre Museum moved to its present new and larger facilities. The Museum makes a strong commitment to the study and organization of its rich collection, unique in the world, with the aim of promoting the creation of a modern exhibitions, developed in partnership with the National Museum of Ancient Art. The new Vista Alegre Museum was inaugurated by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on May 26, 2016.
Interestingly, the introduction of football in Portugal is linked to Vista Alegre. One of the members of the family, Guilherme Pinto Basto returned from England, where he was studying, in August 1888 and brought a football and enthusiasm for the game. The first "international" match, at Campo Pequeno, Lisbon in January 1889 involved some Pinto Basto brothers, plus some friends and English residents in Portugal, which they pompously called Portugal-England and which the so-called Portuguese team won 2-1.
Vista Alegre, in addition to being a factory, was a social community centered on the factory. It had a neighbourhood created for workers and their families, which for generations has welcomed workers in exchange for a day's wages, with free water and electricity. Schools were provided not only to learn to read but also to draw and paint. A theatre was created in 1826. A medical centre, barber and product cooperative, a philharmonic band, a nursery, a football team and even the first private fire brigade in the country were also created. At the conclusion of the tour of the museum our group had the opportunity to visit the shop and make some purchases of Vista Alegre. We then boarded the coach for the return to Lisbon and Estoril, having learned more of the fascinating history of Portugal and its connections with Britain. As always, the members of the Society enjoyed the abundant food and wine and especially the social interaction with other members.
Curtis Stewart, drawing on the notes provided by Jose Luis Nogueira.
June 2025
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