Attractions and Places To See around Fráguas - Top 12

Salt is extracted from compartments – pits – made of cement or stone, of varying sizes and shallow depths, to which salt water is taken from a well through irrigation channels. Currently, the water is raised by means of a motor and distributed according to a system that is jointly accepted and respected (not always) by all the owners. The sewers, threshing floors and wooden houses for storing salt complete the set of what is called the Salt Mines of Rio Maior. According to technicians, a large and deep rock salt mine, crossed by an underground current that feeds a well, makes the water extracted from it salty, seven times saltier than that of the sea. The salt is obtained from its exposure to the sun and wind and the consequent evaporation of the water, deposited at the bottom of the pits, which is then placed in pyramid-shaped piles to dry until it is collected. The process is rudimentary and similar to that used in the salt mines on the seashore. The only difference is the picturesque valley that surrounds them, the well, the unique style of the sailors (as the men who work in the salt mines are known), the wooden houses and the country air that can be breathed.

The Roman bridge of Assentiz originally had two arches, but after a major flood in the 18th century, one of the sides gave way, leaving the bridge with only one arch. Analysing the way the stones in the arch area are placed, it is possible to conclude that this bridge is not in fact Roman, especially since it is now known that the Roman road did not pass through here. The bridge was part of the royal road built by order of Queen Maria I at the beginning of the 18th century, which followed the route of the old Roman road for most of its route. This royal road facilitated access to the region, allowing the flow of its products and also the passage of the mail carrier (transport of mail and people) that had a change point in Alto da Serra. The bridge is in urgent need of refurbishment and consolidation works. There is currently a bridge adjacent to it to connect Assentiz and Arrouquelas.

Located at an altitude of approximately 487 meters, the Serra dos Candeeiros Wind Farm has 37 wind turbines dispersed along a corridor that covers the parishes of Rio Maior and Alcobertas. Each generating machine has a capacity of 3MW which gives a total capacity of 111MW. The wind farm is crossed by a dirt road, which can be traveled along its entire length by any type of bicycle. Usually a windy place (as you would expect) it is worth a visit for the surrounding landscapes.

Swing built next to Alcanede Castle. It stands out for its location and superb view towards the south.

Alcanede Castle is located in the parish of the same name, in the municipality and district of Santarém, Portugal. It is believed that the earliest human occupation of the site dates back to a prehistoric castrum, fortified at the time of the Roman occupation and later reinforced and expanded. At the time of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula it was taken by Count D. Henrique (1091) and later recovered by the Moors. Its definitive possession was obtained from the conquest by King D. Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), in the context of the conquests of Santarém and Lisbon. Its first mayor was D. Gonçalo Mendes de Sousa, chief butler of D. Afonso Henriques, who was responsible for rebuilding and expanding the walled enclosure and populating and organizing the town, before 1163. The 1531 earthquake shook its structure, marking the beginning of its decline. With no military function or strategic importance, there was no interest in repairing it, plunging it into abandonment and oblivion. At the beginning of the 1940s, it was subject to restoration work seeking to return it to its approximate form at the end of the Middle Ages, conserving it as a historical landmark in the region's landscape.

At the end of this segment, towards Rio Maior, on the right side of the road there is a small park where it is possible to stop and walk a little to observe the magnificent natural caves on the banks of the Rio Maior, a practically forgotten river that gave its name to the current city from Rio Maior. Currently, the flow of the river is very low, drying up completely in the summer months. A little of history: "The Rio Maior rises in a picturesque place called «Bocas», a large gorge that cuts the mountain range, through which the Santarém-Peniche road also passes, located west of the city of Rio Maior. the picnic on Good Summer Day. It is said that in the mid-19th century, still on the Maior river, in winter or in times of plenty of water, boats sailed, almost all sailing or rowing, approaching the Tagus to change the loads to other larger boats." Source: Memories of Rio Maior - https://memoriasderiomaior.blogs.sapo.pt/2023.html

The Salinas de Rio Maior are located about 3 km from the city center and are located in a valley at the foot of the Serra dos Candeeiros, in the heart of the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park. Classified as a Property of Public Interest since December 1997, these are the only inland salt pans in Portugal, and the only ones that are fully operational in Europe. The first reference to its existence dates from 1177, but it is thought that the use of rock salt would have been made since prehistoric times.