Sortelha (pop 320 in 2021) remains partially unexplored after our last visit (we simply ran out of daylight), so we return to capture a few more views. This is a day to fill some gaps.
After parking at the Largo do Côrro, we head to the Baloiço, one of a series of crude swings throughout Portugal. From its platform, we get our first clear view of the Castelo and the muralhas near the Porta da Vila.
Further along, we reach a higher plateau just below the high point of the walls, with some of the best views over the village to the hills and the wind farm to the south.
From this level, we may climb to the top, though the stairs and the parapet offer no protection from a fall; this feels familiar. But the panorama is truly spectacular.
Exiting via the Porta Nova, we return to the Igreja da Misericórdia to explore the ruins and the nearby cemitério. Outside the walls, we sight down the line back to the Torre de Menagem and grasp the scale and slope of the rocks.
Back within the walls, we enter the Igreja Matriz (de Nossa Senhora das Neves, fourteenth century – closed during our last visit). The interior is remarkably fresh and simple, with the pews arranged on terraced platforms. The altarpiece is a stacked colonnade with small figures; the larger saint on the left is accompanied by a pig (possibly Santo Antão o Grande).
Just to the left is Nossa Senhora, who stands before a frescoed niche, with angels and other senhoras. In the left-hand side chapel, a Crucifix is superimposed over a painted angel, with images of the "Almas do Purgatório". In the right-hand chapel, an enthroned pope (São Pedro?) holding the Crucifix sits below a trio of female figures: as três Virtudes Cardeais – Fé, Esperança e Caridade. The skirt shows several wonderfully primitive faces, shrouded in clouds and wings.
Then just to one side, under a low arch, a Christ figure and a Madonna display their sacred hearts. Interestingly, the Madonna wears eastern-looking garb and as well as a mark on her forehead like a bindi.
Before returning to Alfaiates, we stop at the Termas do Cró (twentieth century). Here, an ultra-modern hotel and spa, which opened 2013, plays baby-brother to a ruined facility from 1935. The thermal baths date from Roman times. The ruins sit along the banks of a stream known as the Ribeira do Boi, and are connected by a stone bridge.
We arrive back in Alfaiates in times for late afternoon services in the Igreja Matriz (seventeenth century). Dedicated to São Tiago, his presence is apparent throughout: in the altarpiece, holding his walking staff and gourd, as well as on the carved pulpit, with the shell and cross of his order.
The side chapel includes another papal figure holding the Crucifix, as well as a gruesome São Sebastião.
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