admin
ALTER DO CHÃO (RIBEIRA DE SEDA): NATIONAL MONUMENT 1st CENTURY AD.
One of the local key points for an excellent Alter do Chão Genial Picnic is the Roman Bridge of Vila Formosa. According to the legend, a shepherd sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a bridge he could cross with his cattle, saving it from serious hunger. When the last stone was laid, a black cock was born and immediately began to sing. The devil himself got scared and ran away without receiving the shepherd’s soul. People say that this stone is still there, but that it falls every time they put it in its proper place. National monument, the Roman Bridge was built in the late 1st century AD/ early 2nd century AD, across the road that connected Olisipo (Lisbon) to Emerita (Merida), by Abelterium (today’s Alter do Chão ). A true tribute to endurance, the bridge has resisted for millennia.
Upon arriving to the creek, spread your cloth, open your picnic backpack and enjoy all the food with the nature sounds as background. Try to identify the players that make that symphony as you walk down the “Ribeira de Seda”. The flora sets: the grey willow, the narrow-leafed ash, the poplar and the alder. The fauna sets: the white stork, the little egret, the grey heron, great crested grebe, the mallard, the gadwall and the Eurasian otter.
