Óbidos (Literary Village)

Óbidos (Literary village)

A village of rare beauty, with white houses adorned with bougainvilleas and honeysuckles, keeps in its essence centuries of history. It was conquered from the moors by the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, in 1148. Encircled by its medieval walls and crowned by the moors castle, which was rebuilt by King Dinis, Óbidos is an important example of the portuguese medieval fortresses. Since ancient times, the main entrance to this beautiful village is by the southern gate of Santa Maria. It is the entrance to a magical space where the walls become golden when touched by the setting sun. Medieval atmosphere made of charm, winding streets, old whitewashed houses with corners painted blue or yellow, spans and Manueline-style windows (King Manuel I) adorned with huge, beautiful flowers and colorful plants. In these streets still run stories of brave knights, kings and their queens. Óbidos is considered Literary village since June 13, 2015. From this date we can see Óbidos in an even more stimulating way, as we had never seen before. Along with its history and medieval beauty, we also find a place where literature ensues and introduces itself and the book is the main figure. With a permanent presence of actors and dynamics in the book area, in various media, it promotes the culture of writing and reading in activities such as festivals, presentations, meetings, representations, projections, concerts, reading sessions and writing. The village is filling unusual spaces, such as churches, markets, museums, among others, with new and used books. The libraries were arranged "so as to be mutually complementary". There are "new books generalists, used and rare books generalists and even thematic (according to the place where they are installed)”. In art galleries, for example, you can find books about architecture, performing arts, among others. On the other hand, in the museums, the offer falls mainly on books about history and heritage. In the case of “O Bichinho de Conto”, in primary school, it’s possible to find children's and youth books, while in the market attention will go to the bookstore industry and technical areas such as environment and agronomy. For example, in the ancient church of Santiago you can find both new books - with large print runs – and old and rare books. This project's future goal is to join the UNESCO network of creative cities in the field of literature. And all of this in one location.