Around the Lapa dos Gaivões Rural Camping Park.

Within this 15 km radius around the Parque de Campismo Rural Lapa dos Gaivões, visitors can travel by any means, on foot, by bicycle, motorcycle or car, depending on the time available and the pleasure they want. take advantage of what is offered to you.

Next to the park are the typical houses of Hortas de Baixo . Heading towards Vale do Junco, just over 1 km from the campsite is Lapa dos Gaivões (N 39°08'53” W 7°10'23”), the most important group of outdoor rock paintings from Portugal, dating from 4000 BC – 2500 BC, where the “narration” of a pastoral scene stands out, perfectly contextualized in the typology of the agro-pastoral society” installed in the region five thousand years ago. «… The dominant one… is that of schematic art, sometimes with naturalistic or subnaturalist allusions – hunting scenes, groups of domesticated animals, human figurines (male and female) .»( Paulo Pereira – Portuguese Art, essential history, Circulo Leitores )

Esperança – central urban center (2 km from the campsite) In Esperança, visitors will be able to appreciate the popular Alentejo architecture in some of the houses , as well as the traditional chimneys , some very showy, some more sober, some common and others identifying the its inhabitants. When walking around, be sure to see at Largo das Pratas, at number 1, the old Torrefação do Café Caracolilho by António Emilio Correia from 1935 , and between doors 16 and 17, one of the most beautiful chimneys in all of Alentejo . Afterwards, you can visit the Church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança– sec. XVI-XVIII, with a single nave, with a renaissance altarpiece in gilded carving. If you want to know more about cave paintings, megalithism, or about the production of olive oil, then get a visit to the Centro Interpretativo da Identidade Local (CIIL). Within the parish of Esperança, you can still visit Várzea Grande (Marco) , 5 km from the campsite, the smallest international pedestrian bridge in the world, over the Abrilongo stream, where it takes two steps and is in Spain. 6 km from the campsite, to the southeast, is Albufeira de Abrilongo, where you can go fishing, canoeing or just strolling, and finally, in the opposite direction, to the west, the Ermida do Rei Santo,in Recanto, 7 km from the campsite, where, in addition to contemplating the romantic Ermida, you will also enjoy the landscape over the Alentejo peneplain.

The best way to get to know the geography that our Neolithic ancestors once traveled through is to take the PR1 – Arronches – the path of Hope , duly signposted, circular and with about 15 km and 200 meters, which you can take 100 meters below the entrance to the campsite on the road leading to the Abrilongo reservoir. It lasts approximately 5:30 hours (ask for the prospectus at Reception).

snags

In Arronches you will have reasons to, without haste, spend a day at your leisure to visit the

Forte Arronches as Camões called it , or the village of 5 bridges , in the words of Saramago . He will be able to divide the village into three parts

North Zone – Medieval Castle Tower, Tourism, Old Jail (17th century), Elvas Fountain (18th century), Nossa Senhora da Luz Convent (16th century) and A Brincar Museum.

Arronches was definitively reconquered by D. Paio Peres Correia and then integrated into the domains of Portugal. D. Afonso III will have promoted works in the castle , taking advantage of the fortification that would have existed and that embraced the existing houses. During the crisis of 1383-85, the Spanish army took Arronches, which would later be reconquered by Portuguese troops under the command of D. Nuno Álvares Pereira in 1384. The importance of Arronches was well demonstrated in 1475, when D. Afonso V gathered troops here. to arrange his marriage to the Spanish princess D. Joana. Duarte d'Armas represents Arronches around 1509, with the medieval fence and defensive structures clearly defined. «…what particularly interested the traveler was the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz, with its renaissance portico, the galilee, the beautiful chapter room, with stucco figures, and the cloister, discreet and well shaded, in the suffocating heat in which the sun melts.» (José Saramago – Journey to Portugal ). On its back, facing south and overlooking the Largo Serpa Pinto garden, is the Fonte de Elvas , an elegant Baroque style also carved in white marble.

The Museum has several thematic exhibitions: the memory of the place, the master carpenters of carts, toy from here, the doll's corner, by land, sea and air, games and hobbies, paper models, puppet theater, "Escola do" class. Estado Novo”, Portugal of the little ones. It was awarded by the APOM (Portuguese Association of Museology) on 05.04.2003 in the Triennium for the best Cultural Extension service; It was a candidate in the year 2006 for the European Museum Forum, being among the 15 finalists being the only Portuguese museum to compete that year, it received a certificate of Recognition of its successes in innovation.

Then cross Rua 5 de Outubro and reach the Central Zone – Igreja Matriz (Church of Nossa Senhora de Assunção), Museum of Sacred Art, Paços do Concelho, Fountain of Neptune, medieval Arronches and the Arch of Arronches.

The primitive church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção , which also houses the Museum of Sacred Art , was built in 1236 and the temple would be completed in 1242. In 1512, D. Manuel granted Arronches a new charter, and a few years later the matrix would be rebuilt, by royal initiative, there being doubts as to the authorship of its design. Following the model of hall churches that began to be explored in the church of the Convento de Jesus de Setúbal, the Arronches matrix presents a new typology of space that “tends to expand, to overcome Gothic technology” and that will meet its exponent in Saint Mary of Bethlehem. In front of the Matriz and Paços do Concelho stands the beautiful Fountain of Neptune.of the century XIX. Separated from the Matrix by a narrow street, a manor house, today Paços do Concelho , with an admirable facade, beautiful iron railings with armillary spheres in the bay windows, with the village tower integrated to its right, from the 18th century. Medieval Arronches is made up of narrow streets, some of which are steeply sloping, where ocher, blue and white predominate on the facades, lintels and jambs, with many Gothic and Renaissance doors, where the Jewish presence is felt with some relevance, and a Gothic arch at the beginning of Rua do Arco.

South Zone – Riverside Walk (Ponte do Crato, Fonte do Vassalo and Ceira – Interactive Center of Rurality in Arronches).

The new Interactive Center for Rurality in Arronches (CEIRA), in Alto Alentejo, a tribute to the farmer, the field workers and the hard work of the land in other times, exposes more than a thousand tools and agricultural parts that have been collected over the years by farmers in the region. Magnificent museum .

The Passeio Ribeirinho allows a healthy and beautiful walk around the Caia River and the Ribeira de Arronches that will contribute to the physical and mental decompression of those who lead a busy life. The Crato Bridge over the Caia River, from the 15th century, built in granite, consists of six round arches. Fonte do Vassalo is a Baroque fountain from the 18th century, with similarities to a Baroque portico. Topped by the coat of arms of Portugal, it has a spout and colorful paintings. It is flanked by two tile panels with images of the castle of Arronches according to Duarte d`Armas and two contrasting scenes, one from the life of rural workers and the other from the life of the aristocracy.

As Atalaias – Outside Arronches, on the road to Santa Eulália, you can visit the Escarninhas watchtower (39.102734, -7.274923) ( N 39°06'09.8″ W 7°16'29.7″ ), just after the Arronches exit and Baldio's watchtower( 39.068606, -7.260271) (N 39°04'07.0″ W 7°15'37.0″), further on for about 6 km, turning left towards “Baldio do Caia”. The word Watchtower is used to designate a tower or high place, a lookout post of a certain delimited territory, functioning as support for another more complex type of defense, such as a wall or a castle, being distributed in strategic places in the surrounding area. The Escarninhas watchtower is the first of a set of seven that extended to the current border with Spain, the others are known as Água de Raiz, Louções, Outeiro Branco, Torre das Areias, São Bartolomeu and Baldío, also known as Algalé. The existence of two watchtowers, each on the hill that gave them their name, das Escarninhas and Baldio, represent the importance of Arronches in the strategy of defending the national territory. Watchtowers would have been built in the 17th century, in the context of the War of Restoration of Independence, as advanced defenses to prevent enemy infiltration and, particularly, as watchtowers. to alert the population and local forces.

Caminho das Garças – 9.5 km of road where you can see herons and storks and also cormorants, lapwings and cranes in winter, as well as beautiful landscapes. From the road to Santa Eulália (N 39°03'54.7″ W 7°16'32.1″) turn left towards “baldio do Caia”, until you reach the road to Campo Maior, N. 246.

Mosteiros River Weir ( N 39°11'22.2″ W 7°17'08”) and Pego do Inferno(N 39°11'50” W 7°17'09”) – The Ribeira de Arronches rises near the top of the S. Mamede mountain range, at the top of Vale Lourenço and when it leaves the parish of Alegrete near the parish of Mosteiros, it has a faster zone that culminates in Pego do Inferno, a natural well in the rock with clear and crystalline water that you can swim and refresh and where the most daring dive, launching themselves from rocks at about 5 meters high. The Mosteiros river weir, further downstream, is a very pleasant area in the height of the heat where you can savor the freshness of leafy plane trees and oaks with the murmur of the waters and the breeze, reading a book, enjoying a snack in one of the bars, or simply talking or watching the tortoises looking for food.

The natural pools of the Xévora River N 39°14'18” W 7°12'14” – 39.238307, -7.203923

– A little over 10 km away, in an idyllic, cool and magical place, in the middle of the torrid summer, the visitor can cool off in the crystalline and fresh waters of Xévora, which rises in the Serra de S. Mamede, and can also enjoy the route micro landscapes of Xévora, an intimate and almost mysterious 500-meter eco river walkway where you can discover small details of nature and the forest, which often go unnoticed.