Journey to Portugal by José Saramago

In Castelo Branco all roads lead to the garden of the Bishop's Palace. There's no risk therefore in the traveller dawdling or getting lost, in going first for example up to the castle, which is a bare ruin. It's here he encounters his first disappointment: the church of Santa Maria is closed and fenced off, so there is no way he can visit the tomb of the poet Joao Ruiz de Castelo Branco, whose statue stands down below in the Largo do Municipio. The traveller, who is prone to these sentimental weaknesses, had been hoping to recite at the tombstone those marvellous verses which since the sixteenth century have been resounding, oblivious to time, with the pain of lovers parting:

My lady, these eyes depart With so much sadness from thee That there's never been, dear heart Anyone so sad as me. but the traveller was prevented from fulfilling his sentimental pilgrimage by a strong fence all round the church. Apparently, some archaeological remains were found here, and while it is being decided whether or not to excavate, all visitors are being kept out. This fence isn't as penetrable as the one in Idanha-a-Velha, and even if it were, there doesn't seem to be any way into the church.