Romans & Antas in Portugal

This beautiful day was filled with several ‘explorations’, starting with a short walk out of the Pousada to a fountain, the Fonte do Laranjo, which we had noticed previously. The path was hedged, walled, and almost ‘paved’ in places, and the fountain stood in a lonely little valley. It was wonderful to see early spring flowers.

Then I wanted to find two Roman bridges in the area, or what I believed to be Roman Bridges. The Bridge of Chocanal is apparently Mediaeval, but probably built on the site of a Roman bridge, using the same stones – nevertheless it was fun looking for it, in the valley just below Crato.

There is a second bridge nearby, over the Seda River – I couldn’t get down to river level and a shot taken peering over the edge did not make sense.

The hunt for the Anta of Crato failed, but I subsequently located it on the internet! Next on the day’s agenda was the Thermal Baths at Fadagosa which proved to be a substantial but deserted complex and on the way we found ourselves driving through eucalyptus trees, as well as cork oaks.

Nearby, the Anta of San Gens was for once easy to find. This burial chamber is isolated, which seems odd – the area felt as though there should be more, similar sites.

And after that it was time for coffee and pasteis de nata in Nisa, an old walled town which needs to be revisited. The title of Marquis of Nisa was given to the family of Vasco da Gama, which is of interest to me because I am South African.

Finally it was time to return to Flor de Rosa.

You may be interested in
Walking the Eastern Pilgrim Route in Portugal
Walk of the Fountains around Flor da Rosa
A description of Antas in this area and how to find them
The Northern Alentejo
Portuguese cheeses