The Peniche Museum

Peniche lies on a peninsula, connected to the mainland by a narrow neck of land.

This made it a strategically important place in the 16th century, when a fortress (pictured below) and a stone fortification were built all across the narrow entrance to the peninsula. The rocky coastline around the rest of the peninsula made the city easy to defend against pirate raids, which were common in those days.

The old fort is now the Peniche Municipal Museum (left), which features a display of hand crafted lace, which has been for centuries a specialty of local women. To the right is a monument to the "lace-women," who wove the intricate "bobbin lace" on top of cylindrical pillows.

During the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar (which lasted into the 1960's), the old fort was used as a prison for political dissidents.


To the left is a view out of one of the little "turrets" on the rampart or fortress walls.

You can look at more pictures from the museum grounds by clicking on these links:

Aside from exploring Peniche, while staying above the restaurant Kate Kero we drove our nimble little Fiat Punto to the nearby towns of Óbidos and Fátima.