Arronches is a lovely small village situated in the vast Alentejo region, nearby the border with Spain, characterized by its small white houses with coloured bands around windows and doors.
Arronches origins are quite ancient, although there is not many official documentation about remote periods, nevertheless many megalithic pre-historic monuments can be found throughout the region.
Because of its strategic situation, Arronches was an important defensive point during the Middle Age, as one still can observe for what is left of its Castle of the 14th century. With the lost of its strategic significance, and with the big earthquake of 1755, the Castle starts to get in decay and much of its material starts to be used for local constructions and residences. Nowadays only one of its towers and parts of its walls are still erected.
The Mother Church, a building from the 16th century that replaced an ancient gothic temple dated from 1236, is one of the main monuments in the village, situated right in front of the lovely Town hall building (16th century). Other monuments are worth to be seen, like the Misericórdia Church (16th century), the Convent and Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (16th century), among other monuments from the region.
Part of the Arronches’s department is located in the beautiful area of the São Mamede Mountain Natural Park, and all its surrounding landscape is of great beauty, with a great diversity of fauna and flora species.
