Marmelete: Medronho, Crafts and the PR6 MCQ

Marmelete offers several concrete starting points for planning your trip: medronho production, regionally influenced cuisine and craft traditions. The PR6 MCQ – Percurso Pedestre de Marmelete – is also an option if you would like to plan a hike. This gives you a way to organise your travel dates and priorities first.

Medronho: Production and Encounters

To make Aguardente de Medronho, the fruits of the strawberry tree are first fermented in wooden barrels after harvesting, then distilled in traditional copper stills. This sequence combines two distinct steps: fermenting the fruit and distilling it afterwards.

Casa do Medronho recreates a typical medronho distillery, complete with all the equipment used to make Aguardente from the berries of the strawberry tree. In workshops, visitors can take part in the entire production process, from harvesting the fruit to distillation. If you plan to attend a workshop, confirm its availability when booking.

The Rota do Medronho has a different focus. It invites visitors to Marmelete to meet some of the residents of the parish who devote themselves to distilling every year. Casa do Medronho focuses on the recreated distillery and the production process; the Rota turns the focus to the residents and their annual activity.

Bolo de Tacho and Traditional Cuisine

Bolo de Tacho, also called Bolo de Milho or Bolo de Maio, is a sweet treat typical of Monchique’s gastronomy, with a local expression in Marmelete. In 2025, the sweet treat was added to Portugal’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Another aspect of Marmelete’s traditional cuisine is its reliance on pork, as well as chickens and roosters kept at home.

Every year on 1 May, Labour Day is celebrated in the parishes of Marmelete, Alferce and Monchique with Bolo de Tacho, music, dancing and the sale of typical products from the municipality. If this date affects your travel plans, check the details of the relevant celebration in advance.

Crafts Using Woven Materials and Heath Wood

There are still people in Marmelete who make baskets, large baskets and bottle decorations from willow rods and weaving materials. People there also make spoons from heath wood for preparing food. Woven crafts and the working of heath wood are distinct activities: one produces baskets and decorations, the other spoons for the kitchen.

Hiking the PR6 MCQ

The PR6 MCQ is 8.40 km long and starts and ends at Igreja de Marmelete. At Miradouro dos Picos, the route reaches its maximum elevation of 565 metres. When preparing, you can take the distance, shared start and end point, and maximum elevation into account; also check local conditions before hiking.

Discover more destinations: Monchique, Alferce.

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