The Caia Dam has the largest reservoir of Portalegre district, extending from the municipalities of Arronches, Campo Maior and Elvas.

It is a mixed dam, with concrete in the deepest part of the valley and embankment on the left bank of the river.

Located in rugged terrain marked by extensive olive groves.

The dam of Caia has good conditions for the practice of various sports and leisure activities.

This wealth makes Portalegre for the natural heritage and nature conservation, with considerable environmental quality.

The town of Portalegre is the capital of Portalegre district, with about 15,800 inhabitants. Soothes of a municipality with an area of ​​446.24 square kilometers, is divided into 10 parishes.

Portalegre was inhabited in prehistoric times and is of Roman origin, with beautiful houses from the Renaissance and the Baroque period.

It was John III which raised Portalegre to city status in May 23, 1550.

On July 18, 1835, Portalegre becomes the capital of the district.

For lovers of the human manifestations, Portalegre has several interesting buildings:

- Castle of Portalegre – located in the parish of the Cathedral, city and county Portalegre.  Great place from where was possible to defended  Alentejo front  Castile. It creates an interesting chromatic contrast with the dark and the walls white lime houses

- The Cathedral – This is a temple dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, which  construction began May 14, 1556

- The Municipal Museum – has a considerable estate especially coming from two ancient convents of Portalegre, Santa Clara and St. Bernard, as well as private donations;

- The House Museum Jose Regio – In this poet’s collection there is a place of choice for the simple things in popular art, where coexist sacred art pieces from rural everyday

- The Municipal Library, The Santa Clara Convent- Is the second oldest monastic establishment of Portalegre. Its foundation dates back to the second half of the fourteenth century, more specifically the year 1376.

Recommended activities in Portalegre

To enjoy the natural heritage is at all advisable to carry out walking routes in the Natural Park running through the county. There are several walking routes:

- The Carreiras route of pedestrian ;

- The Reguengo route Pedestrian

To carry out both routes, there are flyers with the route explanation despite it is marked on the ground.

There are also viewpoints from where you can enjoy the rich landscape:

- The Mirador de Santa Luzia, located in the Sierra de Portalegre, 670 meters;

- The Penha Viewpoint, located in the Serra da Penha;

- Pico de S. Mamede, located 1025 meters above sea level, the highest point of the Portuguese mainland, south of the Tagus. Here you can enjoy the Dam Apartadura, the village of Marvão, the Serra da Estrela and part of the Spanish Extremadura. Very interesting from the perspective of geology, has limestone and quartzite, greywacke and shale, which provides different soils;

- The Viewpoint of  Nossa Senhora da Lapa, a small church carved in the rock with an amazing view of the Natural Park .

Perched on a granite crag of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão’s name is derived from an 8th-century Muladi duke, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan used the fortress as a power base when establishing an independent statelet (“emirate”, duchy) covering much of modern day Portugal  during the Emirate of Cordoba (884-931 CE). The castle and walled village were further fortified through the centuries, notably under Sancho II of Portugal (13th century) and Dinis of Portugal.

The village has generated significant tourist interest in recent years. It was included in the #1 New York Times bestselling book, ’1000 Places to see Before you Die’. Nobel prize-winning author José Saramago wrote of the village ‘‘From Marvão one can see the entire land…

It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at Marvão Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, ‘How great is the world.’’

 In the 1950′s, author Huldine V. Beamish wrote of Marvão ‘”There is an atmosphere about the district (of Marvão) that is very ancient. At times you have the same peculiar feelings as those evoked by Stonehenge and that amazing druid monument at Callernish in the Isle of Lewis. Picking your way along the steep stony pathways, you would not be at all surprised to meet a Phoenician trader or Roman Soldier. It would be the most natural thing in the world.’.

An annual international classical music festival, under the artistic direction of German conductor Christoph Poppen, was launched in Marvão in July 2014.

Commanding spectacular views across the Tagus basin and Serra de Estrela to the north, the fortified rock of Marvão has been a site of significant strategic importance since the earliest human settlements.

Today lying on the line that divides Portugal and Spain, Marvão has consistently stood on a frontier zone between peoples: Celtici, Vettones and Lusitani (4th-2nd century BCE); Lusitanians and the Romans of Hispania Ulterior (2nd-1st century BCE); migratory Suevi, Alans, Vandals and Visigoths (5th-7th century CE); conquering moors and Visigoths (8th century); muwallad rebels and the Cordoban emirate (9th-10th century); Portuguese nation-builders and Moors (12th-13th century); Templars and Hospitallers (12th-14th century); Portuguese and Castilians (12th century-present day); Liberals and Absolutists (19th century); the fascist regimes of Salazar and Franco (20th century).

Marvão’s natural assets have contributed to the ‘uniqueness’ of this remote village as perceived by visitors today:  as nigh-impregnable ‘eagle’s nest’ fortress perched high on a granite crag, and bordered on the south and west by the Sever river; as vital lookout-point towards the Alcántara Bridge (70 km (43 mi) away), a wide stretch of the Tagus basin and the Serra de Estrela; as a gateway to Portugal from Spain via the Porta da Espada (‘Sword Gate’) mountain pass of the Serra de São Mamede. These assets have ensured its status as the ‘Mui Nobre e Sempre Leal Vila de Marvão’ (Very Noble and Ever-Loyal Town) into the present day.

Built  in 1356 by D. Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, first Prior of Crato and father of  Nuno Alvares Pereira, the Holy Constable. According to some historians was D.Nuno’ s birth place.

In 1232 King Sancho II gave the town of Crato to the Hospitaller Order. It was in 1340 that the headquarters of the Hospitaller Order was changed from Leca do Bailio or Belver to  Crato. Immediately  D. Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira decided to found a chapel in the town.

As soon as the Order began to grow the Monastery was build and  became the Order’  motherhouse  in Portugal, founded in 1356.

In the 16th century the Hospitaller Order came to be called the Order of Malta, a name that still preserves.

Is located in Flor da Rosa , Crato municipality, Portalegre District.