Alfeizerão

This traditional Portuguese village beats to the rhythm of church bells and the sunset casting its glow over the sea-facing cliffs on the horizon…

Centuries ago, Alfeizerão was the land of the Moors, who from the top of the castle walls would defend the estuary that led to the Atlantic. Old illustrations show how the sea used to reach here, and manuscripts record the existence of an ancient port. This was also one of the reasons the Cistercian Monks populated this region and promoted its agricultural development in the 14th century.

Today, only ruins remain of the old Alfeizerão Castle, and there are no vestiges of the sea that retreated to São Martinho do Porto. However, Alfeizerão remains a fertile land, not only in soil that helps local farmers produce some of the best apples and pears in Portugal, but also in authentic traditions that make this village a national icon.

Known especially for its famous "Pão de Ló", today it is still a tradition for Portuguese families to detour from the A8 motorway purposely to visit one of the local pastry shops and taste a delicious slice of this famous sponge cake, with its characteristic creamy centre.

You can breathe fresh air in the green fields surrounding the village while hearing the occasional seagull in the distance, as the beach is only a few minutes away. But this is merely one of the reasons why so many people enjoy living in Alfeizerão! Here you will find supermarkets, banks, a pharmacy, cafés, a health centre, shops, a school and even a monthly outdoor market where you can buy everything from cheese to traditional handicrafts.

At the Mercado Municipal of Alfeizerão, which only closes on Mondays, you are spoilt with a choice of fruits and vegetables from local producers, flowers, a butcher shop, and even fresh fish sold with a smile by D. Júlia!

Discover Alfeizerão - Silver Coast Portugal

Square in the centre of Alfeizerao Portugal

Traditional Pao de Lo Alfeizerao Portugal

Cafe Ferreira Pao de Lo Factory in Alfeizerao

Amalia Rodriguese exercise park in Alfeizerao Portugal

Amalia Rodrigues garden in Alfeizerao Portugal

Fruit and vegetable in the Mercado Municipal of Alfeizerao

Traditional ceramics in the monthly outdoor market of Alfeizerao

Chourico at Alfeizerao's monthly outdoor market

Vegetable plants at Alfeizerao's monthly outdoor market

What's nearby?

Cafe Ferreira Fabrica de Pao de Lo Alfeizerao Portugal

Popular Tourist Spots

Famous pastry shops who produce "Pão de Ló de Alfeizerão"
16th Century Parish Church (recently rebuilt)
16th Century Manueline-style Pillory
Taberna do Fado (live Fado dinners)

Beaches

São Martinho do Porto
Gralha
Salir do Porto
Salgado
Nazaré

Services

Mercado Municipal (Farmers, fish and meat market)
Monthly outdoor market
Alfeizerão Public Health Centre
EB1 Alfeizerão (public elementary school)
Centro Paroquial de Alfeizerão (child daycare centre & private pre-school)

Pão de Ló de Alfeizerão… a century-old tradition

Pão de Ló de Alfeizerão originated from an ancestral recipe made by the nuns who lived in the Monastery of Santa Maria de Cós, in Alcobaça.
According to a legend, Pão de Ló de Alfeizerão is the result of an "accident" involving the King of Portugal, D. Carlos I (1863-1908). During one of the King's occasional visits to a friend's house in Alfeizerão, he was served undercooked Pão de Ló with a moist centre because it was removed from the oven too soon. The King loved the result so much that, from that moment on, the few ladies in Alfeizerão who knew the ancestral recipe changed the baking process on purpose so that the cake's centre would always be creamy.
Today, you can savour the famous "Pão de Ló de Alfeizerão" in one of the local pastry shops: Casa de Pão-de-Ló de Alfeizerão, Café Ferreira, Pastelaria Castelo and Pastelaria Cinderela.