Geopark Naturtejo is u
nusual for Portugal. Its landscape hides 600 million years of a highly diversified geological history imprinted by the Variscan Wilson Cycle and reactivated by Alpine faulting tectonics. Fair weather, even during the glaciations, brought our ancestors to this territory 150000 years ago. Border country, this territory has been at the heart of struggles of national identity since Roman times. At the bith of the Portuguese nationa, Tejo was a cradle of battle for the Templars and the order founded their bastions of the new country here, such as Castelo Branco, Monsanto or Amieira do Tejo. Now this is a place of unique culture, dialectics and language with a reputation for hospitality and a heart as big as the granite boulders or the vastness of horizons.
Our geodiversity has been studied since the end of the 19th century by great geoscientists, such as Nery Delgado, Orlando Ribeiro, António Ribeiro or Adolf Seilacher. It is a landscape and culture explored by the best Portuguese writers, such as José Saramago, Miguel Torga or Fernando Namora. Geopark Naturtejo is a mosaic of sensations to be deeply lived.
Highlights for 2006
- Acceptance into the EGN/GGN
- 9000 visitors in the Ichnological Park of Penha Garcia (up 71% on last year)
- Representing EGN/EGN in the most important Tourism Fairs of Iberia (Lisbon and Madrid).