Azambuja: Travel and tourism

The county of Azambuja still preserves a certain rural character, in spite of a growing industrialization and its closeness to Lisbon, and offers visitors, in terms of natural patrimony, a contrast between the fertile flatlands and riverside plains on the southern zone and a landscape of woods, hills and spacious valleys further north.

The region's traditional activities also reflect these geographical conditions and include fishing on the river Tagus and the rearing of bulls and horses on the Ribatejo plains.

Although Azambuja doesn't boast of remarkable monuments or significant historical sites, there are several places worth visiting, such as the Pre-historic fortifications and archaeological site at Vila Nova de São Pedro, an important settlement which registered several occupations until the Bronze Age, or the 18th-century architectural complex of Manique do Intendente, including a stone pillory, the emblazoned Town Hall in the classical style and a great church flanked by two wings of an impressive palace which was never finished.

Other interesting sites are the 16th-century Mother Church and Manueline pillory at Azambuja, the Mother Church of Vila Nova da Rainha, displaying panels of painted tiles, and the manor-house of the Counts of Aveiras, at Aveiras de Baixo.

At table, the regional gastronomy offers traditional specialities such as misturadas (a typical soup of bread and beans), caldeirada (a stew with several kinds of fish), açorda de sável (a bread dish with shad) or ensopado de enguias (eel stew).