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The Estremadura region has played a crucial role in each phase of the nation's history - and the monuments are there to prove it. A comparatively small area, it boasts a quite extraordinary concentration of vivid architecture and engaging towns. Alcobaca , Batalha , Obidos and Tomar - home to the most exciting buildings in Portugal - all lie within ninety minutes' bus ride of one another, as does the pilgrimage centre of Fatima . With its fertile rolling hills, Estremadura is second in beauty only to Minho, but the adjoining bull-breeding lands of Ribatejo (literally "banks-of-the-Tejo") fade into the dull expanses of northwestern Alentejo, and there's no great reason to cross the river unless you're pushing on to Evora or can catch up with one of the region's traditional festivals. North of Estremadura, life on the fertile plain of the Beira Litoral has been conditioned over the centuries by the twin threats of floodwaters from Portugal's highest mountains and silting by the restless Atlantic. The highlight here is Coimbra , an ancient university town stacked high on the right bank of the Mondego. To the north is the little-explored Mountain Beiras region, historically the heart of ancient Lusitania, where Viriatus the Iberian rebel made his last stand against the Romans. You'll see many signs of this patriotism in the fine old town of Viseu , where every other place of refreshment is the Cafe Viriate or the Restaurante Lusitania . At an even higher altitude stands Guarda , pretty diminutive for somewhere of such renown, but nonetheless bristling with life, especially on market days.
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