We left Tomar on a high, fortified by the daily coffee and pasteis de nata, and went looking for a Roman Villa at Torres Novas, the Villa Cardillo. The site was first excavated in 1962 and in my view it has been neglected – you can walk anywhere and mosaics are lying unprotected in the open. It is conjectured that the Villa was owned by a couple.
Mosaics at the Villa Cardillo
Mosaics at the Villa Cardillo
We used the motorways to take us down to the Pousada de Queluz which was originally part of the Royal Palace, and the traffic and hustle and bustle was quite a shock after the quiet and emptiness of the Alentejo. (The viaduct below is in the hills behind Lisbon.)
