Built to defend the Portuguese coast, the Fort of the Citadel of Cascais was the summer residence of kings - and today it fulfils the same function for the President of the Republic. It doesn't usually show signs of life in the hot months, but the space is open to the local population and tourists visiting the town for a few days. Under the management of the Pestana hotel, the square hidden between the high walls has become an arts hub filled with galleries and art studios, as well as other projects worth discovering (including our favourite bookshop in the village). Here's the best of the Citadel of Cascais these days.
It's the hotel that revolutionised the former Fortress of Nossa Senhora da Luz, a national heritage site. With 108 rooms and 18 luxury suites, almost all with sea views, it is a very central accommodation, perfect for those who want to discover the town of Cascais on foot. It's just a few minutes' walk from the beach, the Museum Quarter, Cascais Marina and Marechal Carmona Park. It has a spa, gym and swimming pool.
Catarina Carreiras is in charge of operations. She opened This Must Be The Place in 2020. The showroom is at the front. At the back is her studio, where she works on branding and communication projects with her small team. She uses silk-screen, sculpture, textiles and wood, all alternatives to mainstream materials with which millennials have filled their homes. All with a good measure of colour.
A used bookshop, arranged in wine boxes, where the rooms don't follow conventional categories. Déjà Lu is the quirkiest bookshop in the area - and it still has a busy schedule. There are workshops, talks and reading sessions. Next door, there's a restaurant that's there for the occasion. The icing on the cake is the cause: sales go in favour of the Trisomy 21 Association.
Dedicated to Portuguese snacks, Taberna da Praça is the Cidadela's restaurant. With a terrace ideal for those who like to sunbathe, it serves alheira game balls (9€), tuna pica pau with capers (16€), scrambled eggs with farinheira and tomato (9€), Bulhão Pato mushrooms (9€) or peixinhos da horta (8€), among many other options. As for more composed dishes, try the octopus rice with prawns (24€), the monkfish pot with mussels (22€), the duck rice our way (19€), the pork in garlic vines (19€) and a series of steaks with different sauces (26€-27€).
The sculptures that adorn the square of the Citadel Fort are by Rogério Timóteo. The internationally renowned Portuguese sculptor - who works mainly with bronze and marble - has had his gallery there since 2020. "After a career of almost 30 years without meeting the public, I wanted to have that contact. And it makes my day every time someone walks in and says ‘wow’", he explains. Now she balances the solitary work she does in her studio in Anços, Sintra, with the time she spends in the gallery in direct contact with the public. And it is also there that some of his pieces are born, from the moulding of clay.
In fact, it is a bookshop. It is a counter-current bookshop. It was launched in the midst of the pandemic, in October, at a time when independent bookstores seemed to be suffering. But there is nothing like an irreverent project to bring joy to true literature enthusiasts. It is run by the same people as its neighbour Déjà Lu (with second-hand books) and was created to give some space to ideas that could not grow in another format. “We focus on a close relationship with authors, through signed books and other partnerships. We focus on books that few people know exist and on foreign literature outside the usual bestsellers, books with some literary value,” says Francisca Prieto, who is one of the creators. They also have a shop selling items related to literature and the arts – they are in Cascais’s Art District after all – and a subscription project, A Caixa Fora da Caixa, which offers monthly book deliveries and other surprises for €28 that are then explored on Indie’s social media. There is no lack of imagination.
Allarts Gallery has been selling mainly Portuguese pieces there for 11 years. There's no shortage of Vista Alegre and Bordallo Pinheiro classics, Topázio and Pé de Mar jewellery, as well as sunglasses, design and decorative objects and original paintings, particularly naïf paintings. It's also worth taking a look at Antiflop's silk scarves, which adapt renowned works by Portuguese artists.
Once a fishing village, Cascais’s fate changed in 1870 when King Luís decided to turn Cascais Citadel into his summer residence. And so it remained until the monarchy was overthrown in 1910. It went on to become the official and summer residence of several of Portugal’s presidents. After many years of neglect, in 2004 the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic began work restoring the citadel, which today receives guests of the Presidency and which has rooms set up for this purpose. You can visit some of the palace’s restored rooms, including the noble salon, the Arab room and the incredible enclosed balcony with its wonderful views over the bay.
Brazilian artist Lu Mourelle paints women's faces with lots of colour. Each work always starts with the eyes, with little concern for realism and more for expressiveness. Her gallery has been in the Art District of Cascais for five years and has a direct link to her studio: it's there that you can see her latest creations first hand.
"There's always something new on the walls or a new exhibition and people come across something unexpected. It's a vibrant atmosphere, because visitors love talking to the author of the work. It's a stimulus for the artist and a different experience for the public who come to the gallery", Lu Mourelle believes.
It's the latest addition to the Cidadela Art District. Since September 2023, the artist Nélio Saltão, a self-taught artist who for 40 years combined his artistic passion with the various jobs he held in the casinos of Estoril and Lisbon, has had his own space in Cascais. There he exhibits and sells his colourful paintings, in which he explores abstract expressionism.
In this restaurant and pool lounge at the Pestana Cidadela you can have a meal or a drink with a panoramic view over the Cascais Marina and the Atlantic. From salads to burgers, pasta and steaks, there's no shortage of options. And there's no need to check in.
The Art District of Cascais is also home to Mariana A. Mateus' gallery, shop and workshop space, where she sells contemporary jewellery in different styles - whether earrings, rings or necklaces.
It is the gallery and studio dedicated to the art of Gizela N and the designer jewellery of Cláudia Afonso, two creatives who have come together in a single space that has been open to the public since 2022.
Since April, the Citadel Fort's Officers' Room has been hosting weekly Saturday workshops with local artists. Dedicated to the plastic arts, there are painting sessions as well as drawing, ceramics, collages, screen printing and prints, among other visual artistic expressions. The initiative is organised by artist Maria Giraldes.
"The Pestana Cidadela Cascais hotel took the initiative of wanting to energise the Art District space with events and workshops, and this partnership was born. Having studied art and followed this area, I know that it is a very thankless profession in Portugal. I believe it's an opportunity to give stage to local artists and also to teach and share my knowledge. Some workshops are given by me and others by guest artists. The idea is to create a community that has a passion for the visual arts and to reach out to those who don't know they have one", she explains.
The workshops usually take place between 10am and 1pm and enrolment can be done via email (maria@girart.eu), website or Instagram.
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