As the boats cruise up and down the Douro River, many passengers on board hardly notice the tributary river. As they sip their wines and note the vineyard estates along the banks, they might take a moment to pause and look past the disused train bridge and note the low, rectangular building on the hilltop …
The hot sun beats down on your head. You can hear the rush of water as the Côa River cascades over rocks: the invitation to enjoy the cool of the green waterside is almost irresistible. But the rocks beckon. On the edge of the beach area, and running up the hillside, an abundance of engraved …
The river flows quietly but steadily past the riverbank. The water laps softly against the jetty. Water flows past the rocky outcrops, relentlessly. Turning from their ancient engravings, you watch it head towards the ocean. Beneath the surface, the water flows over other outcrops of rock. Hidden below, more engravings remain unseen and unseeable. What …
As you walk down the cement canyon, the walls close in on you and the blue sky dwindles. Darkness encloses you and it seems like you are traveling into the bowels of the earth and back in time. Within, you are surrounded by art and artefacts of life as it was tens of thousands of …
Also known as: Anta de Vale Beiró & Antas (Grande & Pequeno) de Caminho da Fanica Driving along the N2, Portugal’s iconic “National Road #2,” you experience the richness of the country’s geography and history. Driving along the long stretches of Alentejo countryside, you might be tempted to speed up and get to the next …
Sitting in the quiet & peaceful church, you can contemplate faith and history at the same time. The church itself dates back to the 16th century, and the hundreds of years of devotion has permeated the azulejo tiles, marble altar, and beautiful stained-glass windows devoted to its patron saint. Then you turn and enter the …
A group of stones in the forest show cup (or “cupule”) marks (the Portuguese term is covinhas, which translates as “dimples”). These are a distinctive prehistoric decoration technique. The carvings are seen on several stones: some are connected by grooves, and others form distinctive alignments or sets. The carvings have been investigated by archaeologists, but …
In the gallery, the rectangular sheets of black rock line the walls all around. White-grey images adorn each one. Some are of individual animals, others of groups. Many simply show the trilobites as they had lived (or at least, as they had died). Others showed evidence of specific behaviours such as traveling in a column, …