Portugal the country of adventure, relaxation and also romance.

Visitors can discover various parts of that country from rock

mountains, deep valleys, green grapes plantations in the
northern part of Portugal to wild beaches, wonderful coasts
on the south.
Portuguese people are friendly, hospitable and they are easy
to live with. Their character has been created for many
centuries by their sea adventures, experience and soft climate
of their country. They are like a mixture of many cultures.
They love organizing folk festivals which are good possibilities
of finding out a lot about Portuguese culture and customs.
Folk festival
Children
wearing folk
costumes
When we want to know Portuguese Culture we should
start from
The National Museum of Antique Art in Lisbon.
There you can admire European (including
Portuguese) , African and East Asian art.
But the most breathless is a Portuguese achitecture.
There are a lot of places and buildings which have their
own possitions on the UNESCO list.
Evora in region Alentejo
Mosteiro do
Batalha in region of
Beiras-in gothic style. A
symbol of independence
Unusual medieval villages for example Almeid, Sortelha,
Monsanto in Beiras region are worth visiting

Monsanto
Sortelha
When we are talking about Portuguese culture we should
say about the most popular Portuguese music called fado.
Its full of nostalgy and sadness but it influences on our
minds.
Marisa-a fado
singer

Portuguese literature is famous in the world.
Everybody knows Jose Saramago who has got the
Nobel Prize, modernist writer Fernando Pessoa and
a poet Luis de Camoes.
Fernando
Pessoa
Jose
Saramango
Portuguese cuisine
People in Portugal usually take care about their food.
For example lunch can take
2 or 3 hours and it is eaten together with friends.
Restaurants on the coast often serve different kinds of
fish and seafood. The mealsare simple but very fresh.
Cafes in Portugal are often visited by people who want
to try the best cakes and other sweets in the world.
Some of the restaurants and cafes are so old that we
can call them small museums.
Portuguese
seafood
Sweet belem pastry
But Portugal is one of the most
important producers
of wine. Porto. Madeira, vinho verde and
Moscatel de Setubal are the most
popular kinds of wine in the world.
Fresh grapes A glass of red wine
Adventure
Waterfall in Porto e
Norte
If you are an activ
person you will surelly
find something for you
in Portugal. There is a
National Park Peneda-
Geres in the north and
you can go for a long
walk or cycle passing
amazing old villages,
mountain rivers and
waterfalls.
Peneda-Geres park
Serra da Estrela park
In the middle part of Portugal
there is a National Park Serra da
Estrela. There are high
mountains similar to Alps, cold
lakes and green meadows. The
routes are difficult there but its a
good place for skiing.
Madeira island
Madeira Island shows us a special type
of endemic forest. There are numerous
falls and deep valleys.
Azores Islands are famous for their
whales and dolphins shows.
Algarve-a region of exclusive beaches is not only a good
place to sunbathe but also a paradise for people who like
surfing. Huge waves and warm water allow them to show
their skills.
If you come to Portugal to find a few
days of relax, you can chose some of
the most beautiful places. For people
who want to relax on the beach and
prefer sunbathing and swimming the
best place is on the south of the
country Algarve. Sandy beaches,
cliffs and warm climate attract tourists
of every age from other countries.
Exclusive hotels wait for their guests
every year.
For visitors who want to admire the beauty of Portuguese cities, tourist
catalogues offer trips to Lizbon or Porto two most famous and biggest
cities in that country.
Its great to walk along
Narrow streets of Lizbon
and feel its special
atmosphere.
The capital city
Lizbon
Porto
Portuguese Language
Portuguese (portugus or, in full, lngua portuguesa) is a Romance
language and the sole official language
of Portugal,Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and So
Tom and Prncipe.It also has co-official language status
in Macau (China), Equatorial Guinea and East Timor. As the result of
expansion during colonial times, Portuguese speakers are also found
in Goa, Daman and Diu in India, in Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka,
and in Malacca in Malaysia.
Portuguese is a part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several
dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia. With
approximately 215 to 220 million native speakers and 260 million total
speakers, Portuguese is usually listed as the sixth most spoken language in
the world, the third most spoken European language and the major language
of the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the most spoken language in South
America and the second most spoken in Latin America, after Spanish, as well
as an official language of the European Union and Mercosul.
Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes once called Portuguese "the sweet and
gracious language" and Spanish playwright Lope de Vega referred to it as
"sweet", while the Brazilian writer Olavo Bilac poetically described it as "a
ltima flor do Lcio, inculta e bela" (the last flower of Latium, rustic and
beautiful). Portuguese is also termed "the language of Cames", after one of
the greatest literary figures in the Portuguese language, Lus Vaz de Cames.
In March 2006, the Museum of the Portuguese Language, the first language
museum in the world, an interactive museum about the Portuguese language,
was founded in So Paulo, Brazil, the city with the greatest number of
Portuguese language speakers in the world.