Walk through the sunny forests on the hills above the Tejo River. Enjoy the birdsong and wildflowers. As you round a bend on the trail, marvel at the enormous stone slabs standing over 2m tall. They have been standing there for 5,000 years. This anta (“dolmen” – megalithic chambered tomb) was built during the Late …
Also known as: Grutas Artificiais do Casal do Pardo, Covas da Moura At the edge of the town of Quinta do Anjo, a rock outcrop looks out over fields festooned with wildflowers. Walk along the outcrop and look into the holes. They lead into large chambers, caves in the rock. These are not ordinary caves. …
Also known as: Dólmen da Pedra Branca, Monument Megalitico da Pedra Branca Walk around the boardwalk and look down at the stones. Their regular placement shows human work. Think about the four and a half thousand years that separate you from their original builders. Did the builders choose this hilly spot for the views to …
Also known as: Anta da Nave do Grou As the wind blows across the meadow, it carries the sound of hissing traffic on the nearby road as well as the tinkling of bells of the cows in the pasture. The grass on the mound wavers in the wind all around the stones. The ancient structure …
Also known as: Anta do Senhor da Serra This dolmen is located on private property. I requested permission from the property owner to visit the anta, but never heard back. Therefore I can’t present a personal site visit. This anta is one of the three Antas de Belas, which were declared National Monuments as a …
The cars and trucks go whizzing past. They used to be able to stop and refuel, allowing the people inside a chance to get out and stretch their legs. Now the motorway exit and nobody stops and gets out. The megalithic tomb is largely unvisited and only rarely seen as the vehicles rush past. The …
Stand on the cliff face and look off to sea, enjoying the fresh breeze. The surf below competes with the noise of the traffic along the Avenida Marginal. Look down: there surrounded by a circular wall and covered by vegetation are the vestiges of caves that were carved into the rock over 4,000 years ago. …
Portuguese name: Grutas de Alapraia or Grutas Artificiais de Alapraia. Also known as: Necrópole Eneolítica de Alapraia Walk around the neighbourhood of Alapraia, and look into the yards of the houses, read the menu from the restaurant, look at the notices of the clinic. Little glimpses of life in this suburban area surround you. Then …
Portuguese: Monumento pré-histórico da Praia das Maçãs Also known as: Tholos do Outeiro das Mós, or Tholos da Praia das Maçãs In the Neolithic era, about 4,000BC, an artificial cave was dug on this site. It had a corridor and central burial chamber with side niches. Later, a large tholos was built. The site was …
ALSO IDENTIFIED AS: Dólmen 2 (or Anta 2) de Chão Redondo, or Monumentos Megalíticos do Chão de Redondo From a distance, it doesn’t seem very extraordinary. There’s a remnant of the large mound of stone and earth which originally covered the prehistoric tomb. The tomb itself looks fairly typical of an average-sized neo-chalcolithic chamber tomb. …