Marvão - the village

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'.[1] 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.’’.[2] In the 1950s, 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.'.[3] An annual international classical music festival, under the artistic direction of German conductor Christoph Poppen, was launched in Marvão in July 2014.