Herdade Maria da Guarda

The Maria da Guarda Estate, located in Serpa, in the Alentejo, has an olive orchard of over five hundred thousand olive trees. A living legend that tells of the art of olive oil making, it is one of the largest in Portugal of exclusively Portuguese capital.

The Maria da Guarda Estate, located in Serpa, in the Alentejo, has an olive orchard of over five hundred thousand olive trees. A living legend that tells of the art of olive oil making, it is one of the largest in Portugal of exclusively Portuguese capital. The name of the homestead goes back to a legend according to which a local farmer had a vision of the Mother of God. In the vision, Mary encourages the farm worker to rely, for the arduous tasks of agricultural work, on the help of his own guardian angel, thus making the yoke easier, the burden lighter and the labor more joyous. Many archaeological vestiges are found in the Maria da Guarda Estate, as is the case of a lagaretta, stone base for a Roman olive mill which lends its name to the Lagaretta olive oil. They constitute a precious legacy and the prologue to the production of Alentejo’s and other Portuguese olive oils. The (four hundred and seventy hectares) 1160 acres homestead has been in the Cortez de Lobão Family since the eighteenth century, its owner having been awarded the title of Viscount of Lobão by royal charter in 1779.