Lourinhã – Dino Capital of Portugal

Once a thriving farming centre in Roman times, the ancient town of Lourinhã (besides being one of the jewels of the Silver Coast region) is the undisputed dinosaur capital of Portugal.

The immense geological heritage of this whole section of Portugal’s rugged west coast is portrayed all over town. The people of Lourinhã simply live and breathe dinosaurs and many of the local shops, bars, cafés and restaurants include the word ‘dino’ in their names, while life-size models of the notorious Tyrannosaurus rex and other iconic species are found in key parts of the town.

In many ways, Lourinhã (situated in western Portugal’s charming Estremadura region) is more of a vast open-air museum than a town set a short distance inland from the region’s striking Jurassic cliffs and pounding Atlantic waves.

A huge range of dinosaur remains have been found in Lourinhã and its environs, along with preserved fossil tracks and a large number of eggs. In fact, the area is so rich in dinosaur remains that it has been officially labelled the Lourinhä Formation, a geological treasure trove dating back 150 million years to the Late Jurassic period, where key finds include the world’s oldest sauropod and theropod nest complete with embryos.

Located in the heart of the town centre, the excellent Lourinhã Museum (housed in an old courthouse) is a good place for first-time visitors to immerse themselves in the local history and embark on a journey going back to the Triassic Period some 250 million years ago.

The museum’s key exhibits comprise a very rare collection of dinosaur fossils from the Upper Jurassic period (the largest in the Iberian Peninsula) and a range of other dinosaur-related artefacts including complete skeletons to a fossilised nest with dozens of eggs, which although crushed are still in place with numerous pieces of shell plus the remains of two embryos.

Another of Lourinhã’s paleontological highlights is Dino Parque, which operates as an educational theme park featuring the bones of some of the most fearsome animals that ever roamed the planet, such as the Torvosaurus (which averaged about 9 metres or 30 feet in length) and a precious nest of eggs containing the embryonic skin and bones of the native Lourinhanosaurus species.



Dinosaurs in Portugal

Another of Lourinha’s many claims to fame is that it is one of only four demarcated regions in the world for producing brandy, along with the French regions of Cognac and Armagnac and Pisco shared by Peru and Chile in South America.

Located just 50 kilometres (30 miles) due north of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, Lourinhã (indicated on the Google map below) offers plenty of points of tourist interest beyond its unique dinosaur heritage.

Chief amongst these is its exquisite parish church, the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo (located on a hill overlooking the town), which was built in the Gothic style in the late-14th century has a lovely laced rose window similar to the one inside the cathedral at Évora in the idyllic Alentejo region of southern Portugal.

Lourinhã’s centrally-located Misericórdia Church (Igreja da Santa Casa da Misericórdia) is also worth seeing for its fine Manueline portal and a number of early-16th century paintings by the Master of Lourinhã, most notably a delightfully well-preserved Primitive of St John calmly writing the Apocalypse on the Greek island of Patmos.

A short distance up the coast from Lourinhã lies Peniche, an old port town with a long fishing history and one of the best beaches in Portugal. From Peniche, it’s also possible to take a boat to the nearby Atlantic archipelago of the Berlengas, today an important bird sanctuary. Óbidos (located 30 kilometres north-east of Lourinhã) is one of Europe’s most beautiful walled towns and another major attraction for visitors to this enchanting part of central Portugal.

Heading south takes you to a number of other interesting towns, such as Torres Vedras (the residence of several Portuguese kings over the centuries, including Dinis I, João I and Manuel I), the vibrant beach town of Ericeira and Mafra, home to one of Europe’s most splendid royal palaces.



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