Na rubrica Slow Tourism Portugal não queremos apenas dar visibilidade às experiências que promovemos e realizamos na nossa área de acção, as Terras Altas do Minho. Queremos igualmente escrever sobre projectos que desenvolvam actividades noutros pontos do país, com os quais partilhamos semelhanças de conduta, filosofia e propósito.
Located in the district of Évora, in the village of Guadalupe, the Almendres Interpretive Centre is a particularly enriching space. The purpose of its existence is to support and frame visits to the Almendres Cromlech, providing educational and interpretive services on archaeology and nature (not by chance, as the Centre is located in an area surrounded by Montado and is part of a National Ecological Reserve).
Visits to Cromeleque (and the Almendres Menhir and the Anta Grande do Zambujeiro) are a chance to travel back to ancient times, until the Neolithic period. This was a long period marked by profound changes in the way we lived, motivated above all by the climate (end of the ice age, rising global temperatures). During this period, mankind began to systematise the domestication of plants and certain animals and consequently adopted a more sedentary way of life, as opposed to the previous nomadism, which was the norm.
These visits allow us to wander through the ways in which communities were organised, their beliefs, ideas, artistic creations and everything else that allows us to understand how our ancestors lived. In addition, the Interpretive Centre has an educational park that includes life-size reproductions of Palaeolithic shelters and a Neolithic hut, as well as a wide range of equipment and tools used in everyday life at the time.
The ingredients for a fascinating experience of discovery at a slow pace and with an avid spirit and attentive.
