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The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Aubrey Burl

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere - Castro or Chafurdão in Portugal in Leiria

Submitted by Bak_teria on Wednesday, 19 August 2015  Page Views: 1697

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere Alternative Name: Carreira dos Cavalos
Country: Portugal
NOTE: This site is 2.682 km away from the location you searched for.

Distrito: Leiria Type: Castro or Chafurdão
Nearest Town: Alvaiázere  Nearest Village: Alvaiázere
Latitude: 39.828633N  Longitude: 8.411933W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Bak_teria visited on 26th Jul 2015 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 5

Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere
Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere submitted by Bak_teria : The big wall lines match the shape of the mountain. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Castro in the Leiria district, Portugal

Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere or Carreira dos Cavalos was a settlement located at the top of the hill of Alvaiázere, and integrated the upper section of the Nabão valley, enjoying an excellent command over the surrounding territory, particularly abundant in essential hunting resources for the human settlement. It was built initially in the Chalcolithic period, was again used during the final period of the Bronze Age and stood until the Iron Age.This monument is not yet classified but there's an open order for its classification.

About the castro
With a protection system that consisted of two lines of walls aparently built in circular shape made out of limestone blocks from the region (the interior wall had about a hundred meters in diameter), with four meters wide, this construction was also associated with great natural defense conditions provided by the escarpment. The location of the site resulted of its the obvious strategic value, difficult to access, controlling directly or indirectly the key crossing points on land transit from north to south, in the mid-way between the two key axes of communication of the Mondego river and the Tagus river. This is one of the examples of settlements in height with greater extension, datable to the Bronze Age era. It is also believed that this fort was part of an extensive network of settlements that emerged in this period, in inland areas from the Baixo Mondego that were poorly developed by then.
Studies point to a superior age of 3000 years. The role of these central locations of some of these villages wasn't to work as military confrontation centers, instead they guaranteed a regional balance in the economy, trade and movement of the essential goods and people, which were the core of the power of the local elites.
The Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere was probably the greatest of these places, dominating other settlements in the surrounding regions.

About the location
The castro is located on the top east of the hill of Alvaiázere at 600m high, dominating the surrounding landscape. In some areas are visible several fairly large sections of walls, built with limestone blocks. Despite the difficult visibility of the soil due to the dense vegetation were found some proto-historic pottery fragments. It is also worth noting that in the settlement area are visible several limestone outcrops. The wall lines are visible but pretty much destroyed.

About the access
The best way to get to the top is to go by car, there's a great road that leads you there. The views are magnificent.

Links and information sources (all texts written in portuguese):
- DGPC
- Portal do Arqueólogo
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Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere
Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere submitted by Bak_teria : Downhill is possible to notice the first line of walls. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere
Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere submitted by Bak_teria : The larger wall is destroyed but still is pretty visible from satellite view. The views are quite amazing. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Flickr
Serra de Alvaiázere
Serra de Alvaiázere
Serra de Alvaiázere
Serra de Alvaiázere - Portugal
Miradouro da Serra de Alvaiázere - Portugal
Miradouro da Serra de Alvaiázere - Portugal

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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"Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Castro da Serra de Alvaiázere by Anonymous on Friday, 28 April 2023
thank you
enjoyed
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