Salinas de Rio Maior

The salinas at Rio Maior are inland, some thirty kilometres from the Atlantic, and they exist because a spring rises there through a deep body of rock salt, coming out at a salinity around seven times that of seawater. The water is drawn from a well and run into shallow clay-bottomed pans separated by wooden walkways, where the summer sun evaporates it and the salt is raked off - the same method used on the coast, but with a far stronger starting brine, so the yield is high. Documents record the pans in the twelfth century and they are held in shares by local families, divided and inherited over centuries in fractions. Around a hundred and seventy pans remain in use. Wooden barns line the site, several converted to shops and restaurants, and there is a small interpretation centre. Production runs through the dry months and stops in winter.

What you actually see

• The brine well - a spring rising through rock salt at seven times sea salinity.
• The clay pans - around a hundred and seventy shallow basins with wooden walkways.
• The raking - salt harvested by hand through the summer months.
• The share system - pans owned in inherited fractions since the medieval period.

When to go

June to September, when the pans are working and salt is being raked; in winter they stand flooded and idle. One to two hours.

Honest expectations

Nothing is produced outside summer, so an off-season visit shows empty pans. No shade at all. The walkways are narrow and slippery. Several barns have become gift shops, which changes the feel of the site.

Nearby

Rio Maior is close; the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros park runs east.