2011 – Apr : AAA excursion to Abrantes and the Tejo Valley area
This excursion was put together with the help of the 2 girls whose projects we have given a grant to. In April twenty five members set off with Manuel our usual coach driver and arrived at the hotel in Pego at lunchtime to find no food!! So we went into Abrantes where there was no shortage of pastelarias. A local specialty is ‘Palha de Abrantes’, a sweet, egg floss, named because of the importance of the straw trade in the past.
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Abrantes is an old world little town , perched high above the north bank of the Tejo River. With our guides we visited the 15th century convent of São Domingo and the Igreja Misericordia. The latter is joined to a centre for old people whose day was brightened by our group traipsing through their dining hall while they were having lunch to inspect the marks in the floor recording pits where grain used to be stored! A room on the 1st floor of the church contained a magnificent round table and benches, made in the 17th century and once used by bishops and royalty. A door led to the ‘royal box’ in the church and on the walls in the vestibule were photographs of local people who had, in the past, given donations to assist the poor of the town.
The 12th century castle overlooks the town and within its walls is the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, now used as a museum. To view Video 1 click any of the images to the right. |
Abrantes
Looking down from the castle
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The following day we visited the well preserved Belver Castle and the S. Brás chapel inside.
Klick on image to see Video 2. |
The 14th century century of Amieira de Tejo was our next stop, considered to be one of the best Gothic castles in Portugal. Klick on image to see Video 3
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This was followed by an excellent lunch in Vila Velha de Rodão. Here we were lucky to be shown a vulture chick on its nest using the restaurant owner’s telescope.
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The river trip followed and we traveled on two boats along the river Tejo towards the Spanish border and some of us were lucky that our pilot also knew a great deal about the geology of the valley – pointing out the massive slabs of schist which stand like books along the river banks. We also saw a huge ‘gap’ in the rocks caused by the earth’s movement along a local fault line. As we traveled along we also saw the submerged remains of a mill, flooded when the dam was opened. We met the two students Sara and Cristina, who have received grants for their work and they showed us the rock carvings that are being studied and recorded. We were told that there are many more but they are now submerged beneath the river.
Click any of the images to view Video 4. |
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The next day we set off for the Ocreza valley where the students were our guides once more. The 4 km walk to the river was down steep slopes of loose stones – quite difficult especially as it became very warm! At the bottom we saw several examples of prehistoric rock art including the ‘headless horse’, which is around 16.000 years old. This part of the trip was particularly taxing due to the terrain and heat, so we were pleased that our guides provided a shuttle service back to the coach in their 4x4!
Click on the image to view Video 5 |
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We then visited the Research Institute in Maçao where the students work on their research projects. We were shown moulds (made 40 years ago) of the rock carvings and taken before the Barragem do Fratel was flooded. The moulds were made from liquid rubber and gauze and are still in excellent condition.
One of the other students at the centre then gave a demonstration of manufacturing stone tools and also how the ancient people would have made fire using dried fungus, straw and two different types of wood to produce a spark. Then we went on to the town museum and the passage grave of Foz do Rio Frio with its view of the river and the modern motorway. Click on any of the images to view Video 6 |
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On our last day we went to Arraiolos, first stopping at Pavia to see the prehistoric dolmen with a little Christian church inside. In Arraiolos we saw the town hall with its magnificent paintings in the noble room and the 16th century church with its beautiful blue tiles, depicting our obligations. We were then free to wander around the town. It was a Saturday but one lady was found sitting making the rugs typical of the town. The rugs were beautiful but expensive because of all the hours they take to work.
Click image for Video 7. |
Arraiolos
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After lunch we set off for the Algarve, arriving safely after another great trip.
