Concept

The Vasconcellos e Souza, family heirs to the Casa de Santar e Magalhães, whose origins can be traced back to the finals of the 16^th century – decided in 2013 to bet on preserving and promoting their tangible and intangible heritage. It was a pioneering project in the Portuguese context, and they made a point of inviting on board other important houses from the village of Santar, in addition to the Misericórdia.

Keeping a centuries-old tradition of symbiosis between house and place, the Casa de Santar e Magalhães reinvents itself, while at the same time promoting the region’s social, cultural, and economic development.

A sudden insight was at the origin of the trigger idea. Lying in a winegrowing region, the town of Santar boasts the unique feature of being crossed by an unbroken series of garden terraces Casa dos Condes de Santar e Magalhães, Casa da Magnólia, Misericórdia, Jardim dos Linhares, Casa Ibérico Nogueira, Casa do Miradouro, Paço dos Cunhas, Casa das Fidalgas and of resting on vineyard gardens that strongly imprints the local character. The project consisted of ennobling and prizing this great singularity, which spreads urbanistically in every direction, allowing us to uncover its secrets, its views, and its charms. It aims to reinforce the identity of the landscape and to express a narrative: to visit Santar, an historic town, through its gardens.

The timeless principles espoused by Fernando Caruncho, as well as the serene, in an almost meditative way in which his conceptions highlight the dormant nature of each place, made him an obvious choice to become this project’s “gardener”, as he likes to call himself.

Visitors will be able to go out and discover the secrets, the views, the built heritage, the stories, the people and the traditions of one of the country’s oldest and best-preserved towns, all through its gardens.

Enjoy its charm.

José Luis de Vasconcellos e Souza