Jeffrey Amelse will be presenting “Archeological, Geological, and Other Historic Sites in Portugal”. The meeting will be held on March 13th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom, details below.
Portugal has been occupied by various populations since pre-historic times. His presentation will show some of the many archaeological, geological, and historic sites of Portugal. Portugal has stones aligned with the sun and stars (Cromlech of the Almendres) that are 2,000 years older than Stonehenge, out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a cork tree plantation near Evora. They have pre-historic burial sites (Dolmens) that date back 8000 years.
Portugal has rock art that goes back 40,000 years. They have dinosaur prints in several locations. They have a round bay created by a meteor. They have a 100 ft wave surfing championship that is due to a mile deep canyon that comes close to shore in Nazare, and then rises sharply. The water pushed across the Atlantic by winds hits that rise and has nowhere to go but up.
While driving about 1000 ft up above a valley, I came across a trilobite museum owned by a father and son. It has some of the largest trilobite fossils in the world, some over 3 ft long. They are in shale used for roofing. Up about 500 ft from that is an old Roman gold mine. There are other gold mines, including one near Porto and one discovered only a few years ago near Evora. There are likely others to be discovered since the country remains largely unexplored after the Salizar brutal authoritarian regime.
There are over 600 castles and palaces which give a good picture of the feudal era. There is a Knights of Templar Castle/Church in Tomar. Vasco de Gamma set sail from Lisbon to find the sea route to India during the Age of Discoveries. The Moors conquered Portugal and built several forts, including one up the street from the fairy castle of Pena, in Sintra, historic home of the wealthy where Madonna owns a home. St. Anthony of Padua, Italy was actually born in Lisbon and is buried in a church there. The Moors brought Azulejus (Portuguese ceramic tiles that cover many of the buildings). The Moors brought geometry to Portugal, and there are several tiles depicting geometric theorems in one museum. Portugal has three of the few remaining Visigoth churches. There are numerous Roman and Celtic ruins, including a Celtic/Roman site that occupies over 30 hectares.
All of this is packed in a country that you can cross from east to west in 3 hours and north to south in 6 hours.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86566573322?pwd=tdtHXpW673dSZz8onT1HTEPaaAhyzv.1
Meeting ID: 865 6657 3322
Passcode: 304058
—
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,86566573322#,,,,*304058# US (Washington DC)
+13052241968,,86566573322#,,,,*304058# US
Join instructions
Leave a Reply