Mafra - Visit another of UNESCO Heritage sites and it's wonderful stories!!

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Palacio Nacional de Mafra, Terreiro Dom Joao v, Mafra 2640-492 Portugal

Mafra is a pretty little Portuguese town that contains one of Europe’s largest and most extravagant palaces, the Palacio de Mafra. This vast complex includes a huge monastery, an ornate basilica and a library that contains over 36,000 ancient books and its own colony of bats!
Mafra is only 30km to the north-west of Lisbon and the town makes for an enjoyable day trip from the capital.
The palace is the main tourist attraction of Mafra, and the huge building completely dwarfs the rest of the town. The front façade of the palace extends for over 250 meters while the two bell towers, containing 92 bells, stands high above the town at 68 meters.
The place was constructed between 1717 and 1755 and was used as both a convent and royal residence. Inside there are over 1,200 rooms connected by over 150 flights of stairs, but only a small portion of the rooms are open to the public.
The sections which can be visited include the convent’s infirmary, the royal rooms and the stunning library. All of the rooms open for visitors have been lovingly restored and are filled with original furniture, artworks and historical objects.
The palace is a wonderful building and an excellent tourist attraction. The 40-year construction of the palace had an average of 15,000 workers and reached a maximum of 25,000. To keep everyone in order, 1/10th of the Portuguese army (8,000 men) were based on the construction site.
The initial project was for a convent large enough to house 13 Capuchin friars, but due to the influx of gold from Brazil, the building was vastly expanded, so that the final convent had sufficient space for 330 friars. The original design of the convent had no staterooms, but it was changed into a palace so that it could become a hunting retreat for the king. It is 220 meters between the King’s tower and the queen's tower and the room directly in the middle allowed the royal couple to observe church services without having to leave their royal quarters.
There is a colony of bats which live in the library and protect the ancient books from insect damage. These small bats are let out at night and can eat twice their weight in insects. This natural form of pest control has been in place for over 300 years.

Duration: 3 hours

Stop At: Manzwine, Largo da Praca 8-A, Mafra 2640-160 Portugal

The Manz family moved to the quiet village of Cheleiros, West Portugal, in 2004 and quickly fell in love with people and the place.
The strong history of wine in the region strongly captivated André Manz that, with the help and advice from locals, decided to try to produce for his personal consumption.
Almost forgotten in the newly acquired vineyard, there were about 200 white grape strains, from a variety that neither the young winemakers in the project or the locals of the region could identify.
When discovered, the production of the grape – Jampal – was highly discouraged to André.
The remaining supply in abundance, and the low profitability of large-scale Jampal - why was almost extinct in the country explained the advice.
But André wants to try anyway: “I do not want to do too much wine, I want to make good one”, he said. The result was surprising: his wine was unlike anything that no one had tried so far,
providing an opportunity for unexpected business and the motto for the production of other Portuguese varieties, as well as the ones in vineyards in prime locations: Alto Douro and Palmela.
Manzwine emerged based on the same philosophy that led the Manz family to bet on Jampal: its maximum value is quality.
The concept is close to a little boutique wine shop, with premium products rich in flavour and made with passion and result of old dreams.
With 9 different labels, the Manwine currently exports to several countries, from Poland and Denmark to Singapore or Brazil, having really fans of the brand.
Manzwine’s project begins with the discovery of a grape variety, but soon evolve into the desire for restoration and rediscovery
of a region that continues to transport visitors to another era, in which the wine having the leading role.
The recovery of the tradition and dynamism of Cheleiros is one of the most important goals of the Manz family, which currently is impossible to dissociate from its wine business.
Just over 20 minutes from Lisbon, the Manzwine offers a unique and complete experience for wine lovers, and there is nothing like so close to the capital.
Their investment began in Largo da Praça: the Old Primary School, once abandoned, is now the “Lugar do Vinho”, the winery that centralizes all the production of Jampal.
Also, the winepress now welcomes the Manzwine store, a permanent exhibition of artefacts from other times that locals call Museum.
This space is open to the public every day, with previously scheduled wine tastings and visits to vineyards and Roman Bridge, a precursor of the brand logo. According to the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária Português, Manzwine is the only producer in Portugal with a certified vineyard of this grape variety.
It is also the world’s first producer with a wine exclusively made with Jampal (Dona Fatima).
The wine is characterized by a buttery feel and fruity flavour, but mainly by its good acidity which explains the name:
Fatima is also the producer’s mother-in-law name.
A selection of over 1,200 wines for the 50 Great Portuguese Wine 2010 by Julia Harding,
English specialist and critical of wine recognized around the globe elected Dona Fátima as one of the bests.


Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes