Recovering the Past

The reconstruction of the Village of S. Grégorio is in itself one of the main attractions of those who visit. It took over two years to restore the village to its former glory.

Little more than a few walls remained of the abandoned village when it was bought. Nature had overrun the street and the insides of the building destroyed.

The recovery of the village had to remain as true to its original architectonic style and layout as possible, and include modern-day comforts and luxuries. In order to maintain the main aims of the project construction techniques of the period were used. The streets were reconstituted to what they may have looked like in 1483. Great care was also taken over the individual decoration of each house so as to maintain the sober and easily identifiable look of rural Alentejo. Details, such as the smoke-chimneys and steps of suspended stone were preserved and put to use again.

It took over two years of work to recover the village to its original architectural beauty, making S. Gregório a unique place where modern-day comforts and historic wealth cohabit in a civilised manner.