Immersive Experiences

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Castelo Rodrigo

As we passed through two more sets of locks today, we enjoyed the peaceful, rural scenery of the Douro River Valley. The banks of the river were lined with vineyards, and cherry, olive, and almond trees. Rustic stone buildings were scattered here and there, some in ruins, and some showing signs of being occupied and cared for.

Sailing through a narrow passage

As we progressed toward our destination we were entertained by the chef with a chance to learn how to make pastéis, and another chance to taste them. I have the recipe, and I will send it to anyone who is interested. It is easier than it looks.

The pastéis demonstration was followed by a Portuguese language lesson taught by one of the tour escorts.

After lunch, we arrived in Barca D’Alva, a small Portuguese town on the edge of the Spanish border. We disembarked for our tour to Castelo Rodrigo, a medieval fortified hill town that has been home to Arabs, Christians, and Jews over the centuries. The roads were narrow and winding but our bus somehow managed to make all the turns and get us to the old gate to the town - along with two other buses from our boat and several buses from other boats. Meanwhile, the weather had become quite blustery, and it was starting to sprinkle. 

Our tour of the town wasn’t much. There was a lot of standing around in exposed areas tying to keep warm and avoid getting blown away. We walked past a crumbling castle but our guide (Inês, again) did not have much to say about the castle as we plodded up a steep road.

We stood outside a tiny church, backs to the wind, waiting while other groups went in and came back out, and I was beginning to think we would not be going in at all when Inês finally said we could go in. The church’s interior was tiny, dark, and unadorned, and Inês did not offer any commentary. 

Unlike the charming, bustling hill towns of Tuscany, this little town seemed deserted and forgotten. There are only about 50 residents.  We never saw anyone who looked like they lived there. Many of the buildings looked abandoned. We saw one small cafe and two or three gift shops clustered around the entrance. No markets or shops or any other signs of life were visible after we left the vicinity of the gate.

This tile points the way for pilgrims following one of the routes of the Camino, which runs through Castelo Rodrigo.

The cobbled streets were quite steep, and difficult to walk on due to the unevenness of the stones. We had to walk down a very steep couple of blocks to get to the former Jewish neighborhood. We were told that Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition settled here and coexisted peacefully with the Christians - until the Portuguese Inquisition was launched in 1536. (So, for 44 years?) 

We walked down “Sinagoga Street” but we were not shown the synagogue,  or the remains of one. We were told, for example, that the Jews survived by using strategies such as having small doors to their houses. This made it awkward to enter a house, so that the occupants could clobber anyone who would try to enter and arrest them. Inês showed us a face carved into a stone over a doorway. This is not something I would expect to see over the door to a Jewish house, but I am not familiar with the customs of Sephardic Jews. We were shown a carving that Inês claimed was a mezuzah. IMHO, a mezuzah would be on a door, not on a window. It would not be carved into stone, but would be attached to the doorframe. 

I find these various tales and factoids improbable. We were not given any details about how long the Jews lived here or what happened to them. I was dismayed that the real history was glossed over in favor of gimmicky and questionable anecdotes.

Sinagoga Street
The flat slabs in the center cover utilities that were installed relatively recently.

This was once the town’s cistern. A mikveh (ritual bath) was located next to it. 

Note the Moorish-style doorway on the right. That is where the mikveh was accessed.

One of the former Jewish houses, with a small door

Inês points out a gargoyle of some kind carved into the stone. It was believed to protect the house. Note the little niche on the right containing a statue of the Virgin Mary

One of the Jewish houses had this inscription over a window, that may have once been a door. Maybe this is Hebrew script, maybe it is Arabic.

This window may have once been a low doorway that was partially filled in later.

I have highlighted a carving on the windowsill that Inês claimed was a mezuzah. 

I didn’t spend a lot of time on it, but I did my own research on the internet, for what it’s worth. I found sources that suggest a different story. Jews may have lived in Castelo Rodrigo since the early 1200’s, and possibly for many centuries before that. The “cistern” is actually the remains of the synagogue. The writing above the window is Hebrew script and is a quote from one of the Psalms.

View of the valley below Castelo Rodrigo

When we returned to our boat, we were welcomed back by the senior officers, who offered us hot chocolate plus Bailey’s. That certainly hit the spot.

For dinner, the chef set out a bountiful spread  billed as “A Taste of Portugal.”  I really like being able to try a lot of the local foods, especially when they are served in a buffet format and you can taste many dishes. Most Portuguese food seems to have had very humble origins. Lots of bacalhau (dried salted cod), sardines, pork, chicken. Rice, beans. Pastries and puddings.

After dinner we shifted our focus from Portugal to Spain, which is just over the bridge from us. Some flamenco dancers came from Salamanca to perform onboard for us. They were excellent and at the end, some of us had fun dancing along with them.

Today’s fabric is the polka dot print. Polka dots appeared in the 18th century as a printing error on fabric. The unpopular fabric had to be sold at a discount and was snapped up by field workers who used the fabric to make their traditional ruffled dresses. The field workers wore the polka dots when they attended livestock fairs and gradually the polka dot pattern became popular. The livestock fairs evolved into Seville’s feria, and the ruffled dresses evolved into flamenco dresses. 

The English term “polka dots” seems to have originated in the mid-1800’s at a time when the polka dance was wildly popular in the US. In Spanish, polka dots are called “lunares.” 

Photo from visitasevilla.es