Attractions and Places To See around Santa Catarina - Top 20

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 Pena da Gouvinha fountain used to serve the locals. There was a queue to fill the bottles, so much so that it was decided that each resident could only take eight bottles of water and would have to “give others a chance”. Today it serves as a stopping point to cool off during the walk and, if you wish, you can take advantage of the place to eat whatever you have prepared at home. There is a picnic area next to the fountain. The place name Pena da Gouvinha suggests that barbarians passed through here. Gouvinha is a personal name of Germanic origin, still documented in the 12th century as Gaudina.

On the southwest hillside of Cabeço Gordo, almost coinciding with the administrative boundaries between Porto de Mos municipalities and Alcobaça, the Memory Arc it was built, probably in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century and was restored in 1830, by King Miguel, as shown in one of its inscriptions. The bow, perfectly round, has only two inscriptions, one in Latin almost imperceptible, due to stone erosion, registered in 1758 and composed by Friar Bernardo de Brito, in the beginning of the seventeenth century at the behest of Alcobaça Monastery Abbot. According to tradition, that History denies, the monument was built by the monks of the Cistercian Order, for marking the land donated by the Portuguese first King Afonso Henriques. However, its construction only intended to give material evidences of the vow of D. Afonso Henriques, invented by Alcobaça chroniclers.

This spot offers a magnificent panorama of the coast and a 360 degree view. On the historical aspect, it was built by the Cistercian monks, it measures 4 meters high and 3.62 meters wide. The arch has no decoration, only two inscriptions: the first, the oldest written in Latin, testifies to its creation. The second inscription refers to the reconstruction of the monument, carried out by D. Michael in 1830.

Salir do Porto has a river beach, on the bank of the Tornada River, which flows into the bay of São Martinho do Porto. Salir beach is famous for its sand dune about 50 meters high. Once the largest in Europe, the Salir Dune stands out in the dune landscape of São Martinho Bay. The core of the Dune is partly made up of red sandstone, a vestige of an older dune – a fossil dune. There are other rock beaches in the coastal area that are locally called Quebradas. It was in the Ruins of the artisanal Customs House of Salir that the caravels that participated in the discoveries and conquests were built during the reigns of D. Afonso V and D. João II. The extinct parish was made up of the towns of Salir do Porto, Casais de Salir do Porto and Bouro.

I recommend the route here... It has a superb landscape

Located on the promontory of Barra de São Martinho do Porto, a remote and difficult to access place, but with a unique location and view over the sea and the bay, the chapel was built during the 12th century and is considered the oldest religious building from the municipality of Caldas da Rainha. It is also seen as a place of great sentimental and heritage value for the population of Salir.

Climbing up the sand dune and sliding down from the top is the highlight for everyone