Estremoz is built on marble, and you see it everywhere. The stone is quarried in the hills around the town, and it is used for paving, windowsills, fountains, and even the occasional doorstep, giving the white town a gleam in the sun. The quarries around Estremoz and the nearby towns of Borba and Vila Viçosa are among the most important marble sources in the world, and from the road you can see huge pale scars in the hills where the stone is cut out in blocks.
The town has two parts: the lower town, with its big open square, the Rossio, and the upper town, a walled hilltop with a tall medieval keep, the Torre de Menagem, and a castle that is now a hotel. Queen Isabel, the Holy Queen, is said to have died in the castle in the fourteenth century, and her legend of roses is told across Portugal. On Saturday mornings, the Rossio hosts a famous market, where farmers, craftspeople and antique dealers fill the square. The town is also known for its clay figurines, the bonecos, which are made by hand and have been given a UNESCO listing.
The countryside around Estremoz is the Alentejo at its most appealing. Rolling plains of cork oak and olive trees, wheat fields that turn from green to gold, and low white villages where storks nest on every tower. The roads here are straight in places, but gently rolling and uncrowded, with long views and the occasional sharp bend when a river is crossed. The surface is generally good, though sun-baked asphalt can get soft in midsummer. The heat is intense in July and August, so the best seasons are spring, when the fields are green and covered in poppies, and early autumn.
Estremoz has about nine thousand people, so it offers fuel, supermarkets, banks and a range of restaurants. Alentejo cooking is hearty, built on pork, bread, olive oil and coriander, and the local wines are excellent. A coffee in the Rossio, under the arcades, with the castle above, is a perfect way to slow down. If you stay in the area, Vila Viçosa, with its big ducal palace, is a short ride away.