In restaurants you can find the most typical dishes such as fish stew of Obidos Lagoon, fried eels and stew. For those who prefer meat, there´s  a great wealth of green fields and the traditional livestock is reflected in the cuisine. They are the usual lamb stew or lamb, grilled meat, asparagus with ham and roasted lamb with herbs and rice. To accompany a great meal nothing better than a magnificent drink. Thanks to its microclimate Obidos and the oeste region produces fine wines, known as Gaeiras or Quinta do Gradil and Oiro Obidos but there are many more! The Jeropiga, brandy and beer and orange liqueurs. But it deserves special mention the most typical and traditional drink of Obidos, the ginjinha. This is a region with it´s own wine route.

To end a great meal can ask for sweet Muggle-of-egg , lampreys of Gaeiras (sweet eggs), moorish, mayors, footprints or pastel de Moura. And if you think this is not sufficient  then ask for the sweet cake, olive oil cake,  cavacas from Caldas da Rainha ,  esquecidos, sweet rice pudding  or strawberry jam with nuts. Don´t miss the Alfeizerão sponge cake or the small boats with sweet eggs and chocolate, you won´t be able to eat only one! A region where the conventual sweets prevail!

If you prefer you can pick fruit. The pear rock ( Pera Rocha) is the most renowned fruit of the region and is produced in the county, especially in the village of Usseira. Or the well knwon Alcobaça Apple, a treat!

Also worthy of highlight are the goat cheese, sheep or mixed. And the dried fuits such as penauts, Pevides- dried pumpkin seeds or the lupini beans.

1st Century – Obidos is conquered by the Romans.

5th – 6th Century – Romans followed up the Visigoths.

8th Century- The Moors occupied the village.

1148-11 de Janeiro – D. Afonso Henriques takes Obidos the Moors (municipal holiday).

1195 – Probable charter of donation to Obidos.

1210 – Alfonso II donates the village to his wife, D.Urraca.

1246 – By keeping fidelity to D.Sancho II, Obidos ensures the title “Mui noble and always loyal” that still holds today.

1282 – D. Dinis and Queen Santa Isabel pass wedding night in Óbidos. With the donation of the village, as a wedding gift, this becomes an integral part of the dowry of all Portuguese Queens until 1834.

1422 – In the town of Obidos, King John I makes the change from the era of Caesar to the era of Christ.

1441 – On August 15 marries the Prince Afonso (later King Afonso V) with Isabel. The groom was ten years old and the bride eight.

1491 – The Queen D. Leonor, wife of King João II, moves  to Obidos after her sons death, Infante Afonso.

1498 – Leonor founded Mercy of Obidos.

1513 – D. Manuel donates the new Obidos charter.

1527 – King John III establishes a class of Mathematics and one of Theology.

1684 – On July 22 dies the painter Josefa d’Obidos.

1755 – Obidos is damaged by the earthquake.

1808 – From Obidos are fired the first shots that began the Battle of Roliça, during the French invasions, where Napoleon suffered his first loss of the Peninsular War.

1834 – Extinction of the House of Queens.

1900/1910 –  King D.Carlos  hunting used to hunt in the lagoon, with Priest Antonio Almeida, chaplain of the Lord of the Stone Church.

1910/1950 -Restoration of the wall

1973 – takes place in Obidos one of the Captains Movement meetings held at the Headquarters of Recreational Musical Society Óbidos, which triggered the revolution April 25, 1974.

1994 – Archaeological excavations of a Roman city identified as Eburobrittium

Courtesy of www.Obidos.pt

It is known that the Phoenicians traded here, and today more properly the Romans settled  and it is likely that the southern Torch tower has had its origin in a lookout Roman tower construction, such as advanced post in the city of Eburobrittium , large urban metropolis  found in an archaeological work phase.

On January 11, 1148, Portuguese first king, Afonso Henriques, supported by Gonçalo Mendes da Maia, took Obidos from the Arabs, after the previous November siege. The Cruise of Memory is a simple monument of the time, later restored. Obidos belonged to the defensive pentagon (the five castles), the center of the kingdom, created by the Templars.

D. Dinis gave Óbidos as a wedding gift to his wife Isabel and  the village was owned by the House of Queens, only abolished in 1834. Most of Portugal Queens passed by the village leaving great benefits. D. Catarina orders to build the aqueduct and fountains. Administrative reform of King Manuel I gave Óbidos in 1513 a new Foral and this time a very intense urban re qualification.

The 1755 earthquake was felt intensely by knocking down parts of the wall as well as some temples and buildings and even changed some aspects of the stroke,the Arab and medieval hull. Óbidos was also a stage for the struggles of the Peninsular War and here toke place the  great battle of Roliça.

More recently the Village hosted the preparatory meeting of the 25th April Revolution  thus connected to the brave and heroic captains movement.

Built during Queen Santa Isabel reign in 1309 was then dedicated to St. Vincent  gave religious assistance to those who suffered most in the Middle Ages, lepers.
In the beginning of the 16th century the temple was built on the heritage of the Holy House of Mercy of Óbidos. From October 19 1636 until the liberalism  served as headquarters to the Parish and Collegiate Church of St. John the Baptist.

Since then the church went into a steep decline, reappearing now as a space where Art and Religious Heritage will take place with its adequate expression.

The Parish Museum of Obidos (or St. John), will be a meeting point and dialogue between the community and its roots, as well as a factor of cultural growth, articulating closely with other museum services in the Village Obidos.

The opening of this cultural facility will also serve as an incentive to the study and dissemination of the church artistic and historical heritage which  is the basis of local culture, showing it to various audiences (students, researchers, tourists, etc.) .

The museum management, whose contents will be decided by the parish priest and the technicians of the Municipal Museum, will have short duration or temporary exhibitions (between 4-9 months), justifying investigation and motivating the new periodic visits to the Museum.

This Museum was inaugurated on June 15, 1970, attended by the then President of the Republic, Admiral Américo Tomás, the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, D. Manuel Alves Cherry and several government officials. Was its first director the then mayor, Albino de Castro and Sousa (1922-1984).

The Municipal Museum is part of the West Museum Route and is home to the Museums and Galleries Obidos Network.

Another of remote antecedents that led to the museum’s foundation is reflected from some cultural achievements in Obidos, including the Sacred Art Exhibition in 1954 and the evocation of Josefa de Obidos in 1959, producing a heightened expectation effect with the closure the “regional museum”, housed in the limited space of the Gothic chapel of St. Martin, where there was an archeology collection and architectural fragments, most belonging to Lt. Col. Luis Torquato de Freitas Garcia

Foz do Arelho Beach is a place that nature gifted us with has exceptional therapeutic qualities and an extensive sandy beach, site of choice for surfers, the calm and tranquil waters of the lagoon are a charm for children. In the small pier area, you can buy the full range of species Lagoon offers, cockle clams to, this beach is great terraces and restaurants where you can feast on fish dishes, fried eels, clams and the magnificent Lagoa Stew.

Bom Sucesso Beach or Vau Beach has an unusual form it comes from the source to the sandbar where it becomes broader, skirts the cliff, continuing south about 1 Km.
The water inside the lagoon is calm, except during high tide along the bar, where you can form strong currents.

Both beaches are a stage for radical sports as surf, kite surf or wind surf, for this coast has the ideal conditions.

Extends essentially by two channels, to the west by the Braço Bom Sucesso  and to the east by Braço Barrosa.

The Obidos Lagoon shares land borders with the municipality of Caldas da Rainha Norte (parishes of Foz do Arelho and Nadadouro) and the municipality of Obidos the South (parishes of Vau and Santa Maria).

The South side is the Poça do Vau and the west side is linked to Poça das Ferrarias. It has a maximum length of 6 km and a width varying between 1 and 1.5 km, with a NW-SW preferred orientation. However, this configuration tends to fluctuate considerably, with the direct consequence pushed by sea sediments into the pond.

According to ancient accounts, the Lagoon was much more extensive, reaching the foot of the hill where now stands the town of Obidos, bathing the walls of the castle West side.

In a natural way, the Obidos Lagoon, such as coastal lagoons in the medium or long term, it would turn into swamps if your sedimentary regime remained. However, human intervention accelerates the process of silting through the constant changes it causes in the watersheds leading to greater production of sediment. On the other hand, people try to reverse the situation to intervene with dredging carried out with the aim of increasing the depth of the system, extending thereby the life of these aquatic environments.

Fauna and avifauna

Its fauna consists of fish species such as sea bass, sole, plaice, turbot, golden, the black sea bream, mullet, but also other species such as clams, cockles, mussels, shrimp, octopus, eel, green crab among others.

The avifauna community is the group that has the most important ecological role in the ecosystem. Species were identified, among others, the heron, mallard, oystercatchers, long, curlew leg, tern, heron boieira, snowy egret, black beak gaivinha.

There´s a typical boat called Bateira used by the fishermen and the  shellfish pickers.

It’s characterized by being open deck vessels. They were once widely used for harvesting limo. Currently the bateiras may already have two motors (operating gasoline) one main and one auxiliary which can be used in case of failure. To maintain batteries, which happens every two years, Bateiras are immersed in water when they are parched, and then be painted.

This lagoon has all the conditions for sports like kite surf, sail, canoeing, jetski and paddle boarding .

Museum town with white houses facades sober but flowering with porticos and Manueline aristocratic windows all lined winding streets, sometimes surmounted by arcades, interrupted by other small squares that give the guard jewelry Portuguese civil and religious architecture. The Church of Mercy (XV century), the Church of St. Peter (XVIII) and the St. Martin Chapel (XIV century) are just a few examples among many others that focus on the small area of the borough.

The Royal Palace and the perimeter walls of the castle which overlooks the Águas Livres Aqueduct, are essential. The citadel originated in castro dated 380 BC

This makes a tour of this authentic asleep town  in one of the most comforting time travel.

One should not fail to try the local cuisine that stands out fish stew of Obidos lagoon, which can only be accompanied by special regional wines.

Within the walls, there are many typical bars where you can enjoy a typical drink: a ginjinha.

Contrary to what one might think, the Obidos name does not derive from “obitos”, but the Latin ópido term, meaning “citadel”, “walled city”. In its vicinity stands the Roman settlement of Eburobrício.