Cascais Literary Tour
The town of Cascais invariably gives an impression of pleasurable leisure and a favoured setting for stories, characters and writers.
Even before the advent of the railway at the end of the 19th century, Almeida Garrett was already sneaking off to Cascais in search of his forbidden love, Viscondessa da Luz.
With the progressive reduction of the distances between town and capital, more and more authors wrote about Cascais.
Ramalho Ortigão praised the beaches and the therapeutic properties of their waters, while Alberto Pimentel was delighted with the local food. For Fernando Pessoa and Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho, Cascais was a comforting spiritual refuge. Eça de Queiroz used to gather the main intellectuals of his time for animated dinners at Casa de S. Bernardo. And despite the town's naturally relaxed side, it could also not escape the main issues of its time, as Ruben A reminds us, after having lived with refugees from the Second World War in Chalet Leitão, by the bay.
It is also important to highlight the role of Branquinho da Fonseca, who was responsible for bringing libraries to the community, through his recognised work as curator of the Museu-Biblioteca Condes de Castro Guimarães.
The Cascais Literary Tour was born from these multiple references that link books to the town and is a means of promoting the local literary heritage.
This tour was designed by António Ribeiro, a Master's student at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon and the Estoril Higher School of Hotel Management and Tourism, as part of an internship provided by Cascais Municipal Council.
