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We are well placed for people interested in the historic sites of Portugal. Tomar is a town famous for its Knights Templar castle and monastery with circular church; it's said that the knights attended mass here on horseback. Conmbriga, the largest Roman archaeological site in Portugal, lies to the north of us. Here a whole Roman town is in the process of being uncovered. A little further north is the old university town of Coimbra, with its distinctive version of the Portuguese national song, the fado. There is Batalha, a stunning example of Gothic cathedral building, and just down the road from Batalha, Alcobaa, an enormous Cistercian abbey famous for its huge kitchen and austere church. Also on the subject of churches, we are close to Ftima with its basilica, the site of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to three little shepherd children.
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For the more energetic we can offer the Serra de Alvaizere with walks amid wild rosemary and thyme.
The river Zzere is dammed at Tomar giving us a 40 km long lake which is just 7 km away. One of the nicest things about the Zzere is the fact that there are so few leisure boats using it. you are much more likely to see someone rowing out to do a bit of fishing than trying to water-ski. There are lots of places which are completely deserted, even at the height of the summer, where you can picnic and swim in the lake.
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