Literary tourism has come to stand out in Portugal, not only in debates and investments, but above all as an observable phenomenon with regard to tourists visiting the country. On the one hand, Portuguese literature is attracting more and more travelers, mainly thanks to renowned authors such as, among others, Pessoa and Saramago. On the other hand, tourism acquires a more specific and fascinating dimension through literature, which allows you to discover more about Portugal. Fascination is married to erudition, to landscape the word. To the outer journey, the inner journey.
In this article, we present five literary itineraries and other resources – all of them digital – that could be a starting point (among others) for literary tourists and tour operators, with the aim of discovering Portugal’s rich tourist-literary heritage, through some projects that have already been realised. The common aim of these itineraries is to enable tourists or tour operators to create their own tours, visits (guided or otherwise) and tourist experiences using the digital materials provided.
This is the first article in a series in which we intend to make more and more Literary Tourism resources available through Art and Soul’s ‘Pessoa’ blog, associated with the Lisboa Pessoa Hotel, the hotel that is a tribute to Fernando Pessoa and which arose where he printed the magazine Orpheu.
The selection criteria in this first and partial stage are: to include scripts about some of the best-known Portuguese writers in the world, namely Fernando Pessoa, José Saramago and António Lobo Antunes; to give visibility to projects from all regions of mainland Portugal (being still stored a highlight on the islands…); the first itinerary listed is dedicated to Pessoa, due to our special dedication to this author, while the following ones are listed according to the geography of Portugal, from north to south; apart from the itineraries dedicated to the three authors mentioned above, the others cover a variety of authors and/or works representative of the chosen territories.
Happy reading and… good tourist-literary journeys!
1. Audio tour of Fernando Pessoa’s Lisbon: Não sei o que o amanhã trará
Directed by Portuguese broadcaster and audio director Sofia Saldanha (1975-2022), Não sei o que o amanhã trará is an audio tour by Fernando Pessoa’s Lisbon, which can function as an audio guide in the form of a documentary series and podcast about the life and work of Fernando Pessoa. It consists of fifteen episodes dedicated to places and areas in Lisbon that are relevant to Pessoa’s biography and writing. In each episode, which lasts around 10 minutes, you can hear the voices of Pessoa’s specialists and academics, as well as relatives of Pessoa. The title of the script is a quote from the last sentence Pessoa wrote before his death: «I know not what tomorrow will bring».
Audio tour: A Lisboa de Fernando Pessoa
Format: audio
Language: portuguese
2. Literary map of Braga city: BragaLit
The BragaLit platform is a digital literary map of the city of Braga, realised by collecting excerpts from the Braga, Cidade Bimilenar collection (Fundação Bracara Augusta). It consists of ten digital maps dedicated to ten male and female writers, particularly to the parts of the city associated with a specific work. Each map also features the author’s biography, basic bibliography and an audio recording of a particularly representative passage from his or her work. The maps are dedicated to Maria Ondina Braga, José Manuel Mendes, Antero de Figueiredo, Ramalho Ortigão, Altino do Tojal, Alexandre Herculano, Manuel Teixeira-Gomes, Luís Forjaz Trigueiro, Camilo Castelo Branco and Luiz Pacheco.
Literary map: BragaLit
Format: audio
Language: portuguese
3. Literary journey: through the memories of António Lobo Antunes – in Nelas
This itinerary about the novelist António Lobo Antunes was conceived in Nelas, on the initiative of the Nelas Municipality. It’s based on Crónicas (2021), a sample of António Lobo Antunes‘ work, which evokes memories of his youth, namely holidays spent at his maternal grandparents’ house in this town in the mid-20th century. Thus, António Lobo Antunes’ biographical and literary connection to Nelas is shown through its streets, squares and emblematic places. The route favours a distance from the main roads and includes fourteen stops, directly or indirectly mentioned in António Lobo Antunes’ Chronicles.
Literary journey: Pelas memórias de António Lobo Antunes
Format: digital map; PDF brochure
Language: portuguese
4. Levantado do Chão Literary Route – José Saramago
There are several literary tours dedicated to José Saramago in Portugal. This one focusses on the novel Levantado do Chão (1980) by the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, linking the municipalities of Lisbon, Montemor-o-Novo and Évora. The itinerary, promoted by the Municipality of Montemor-o-Novo and supported, among other organisations, by Turismo de Portugal, is part of a content-rich digital platform, consisting of three themed routes, which are divided into five routes, covering twenty-six points of interest about the work, related to key episodes and including a historical and social contextualisation. The itinerary also provides information on biographical aspects of José Saramago.
Literary route: Levantado do Chão
Format: digital maps; textual and multimedia content
Language: portuguese
5. Algarve Literary Route – Literary tours
The Algarve Literary Route is a remarkable collection of literary walks in the Algarve region. The proposed routes, in the form of maps, texts and brochures, invite you to discover the places, heritage and stories that have inspired poets and writers in this region. Coordinated by Sílvia Quinteiro and Rita Baleiro and carried out in a network of partnerships including the Direção Regional da Cultura do Algarve and Universidade do Algarve, the Algarve Literary Route provides materials that offer literary texts, biographies of the writers, information on the territory, history, demographics, gastronomy, legends and traditions of each of the sixteen places chosen from the Algarve’s cities, towns and villages.
Literary tours: A Rota Literária do Algarve
Format: digital maps; PDF brochures, textual and multimedia content
Languages: Portuguese, English, French, Spanish
Fabrizio Boscaglia
(Acknowledgements: Sílvia Quinteiro; students of the Course in Literary Tourism of Turismo de Portugal – Escola do Oeste, edition 2023-24)
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