At the turn of the 20th Century, the Vidago Palace was commissioned by Carlos I of Portugal to showcase the spring that yielded his favourite mineral water. ‘It opened on October 6, 1910,’ says the concierge Angelo as he sees us look up at the building, ‘just one day after Portugal abolished the monarchy.’
The Vidago Palace may not have had the easiest start but it has a very serene present. This terracotta and white building, all ballrooms and sweeping marble staircases, is just over an hour’s drive from Porto in a traditional and green part of Portugal close to the Spanish border.
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Small glasses of the mineral water are still dispensed by a woman in a white coat in a special building in the hotel grounds. According to lore, and Angelo, near eternal life is assured to all who drink it, although this didn’t work for Carlos I, who was assassinated in 1908.
