On Tuesday 17th July 2012 from 5:00p.m in the afternoon till around 7:00p.m the tourism group started their workshop in the Medieval Village of Óbidos. We were three Maltese girls, two Portuguese boys and three French boys along with our careers.
With the help of the local Council of Óbidos and the senior people from the local Social Center we meet Mrs Belinha and Mr. Armando that together with us start walk through the streets of the medieval village helping us to discover the stories they knew their place of birth.
They narrated stories to us about the beginning of Óbidos, battles in the past and the Memorial Chapel.
So it was and we stop at the Memorial chapel. This chapel was built on the Manuelino architecture style which was started with the King of Portugal Manuel. This chapel was built as a sign of the Portuguese victory over the Mouros in 1841 that were placed at the Óbidos castle at the time.
It is very important to note that this church marks the beginning of Óbidos. At the time being the battle was famous by the strategically way of conquering the castle using the olives trees as camouflage. Mr. Armando told us that his father used to ask him to pray as soon as they pass in front of the chapel in order not to forget the story and we are encouraged to do the same. So we did and we lived the memorial day.
At the end of these friendly journey we learned more about the local town but above all we understand how important is to deal with people with more experience and knowledge like Armando and Belinha. Thank you!
