We have been in Oporto a few times in the last years and we visited almost all the touristic sites. This small fortress by the sea is one of them. It is possible to enter and visit the castle, but as I mentioned, it is small. Outside is - for us - more interesting.
It is situated among rocks and points out into the ocean. It's easy to imagine how it was used to defend the city of Oporto from danger coming from that ocean in centuries past. Along the coastline there are remains of some more small fortresses, but this one is still complete and safe to visit.
Walking around the fortress - as far as that is possible of course we tried to make pictures with as much 'Castelo' and as few modern buildings as possible. That was not a simple task, for the apartment buildings surrounding the fortress are much higher than the fortress itself.
My son Martijn tried to find a view from the south side with as many rocks as he could get. He made several nice pictures and I selected one to paint. I did not include the apartment buildings in my sketch and painting because I wanted to show the fortress guarding the shoreline and defending the land behind it.
As we had a day with clouds, wind and waves all the colours were a bit greyish.
Once again I did not want to show all the details, just the atmosphere we felt walking in that place.
More information about this painting - and another one I made from the pictures we took at the Castelo do Quejo - can be found at www.jannekesatelier.co.nr
