It is located in the place of Pia do Urso, parish of São Mamede, municipality of Batalha, district of Leiria, Central Portugal
The place is a rural space that has been redeveloped for tourism, with its old houses rebuilt and with the implementation of an ecological theme park with a "sensory" walking route, that is, adapted for blind people.
The route is made up of several interactive and playful stations, along the route it is possible to appreciate the flora, fauna, various geological formations called "sinks" where it is said that in the past bears came to drink, from which the origin of the toponymy derives: Pia do Urso.
Pia do Urso is a small restored village in the parish of São Mamede, in the municipality of Batalha, which includes an eco-sensory park known for its beautiful old stone houses, typical of mountain villages, with several stone and wooden houses located in the beautiful Serra de Aire e Candeeiros.
The Village of Pia do Urso offers visitors a truly stunning natural landscape, where you can also appreciate the magnificent restoration work on the typical houses of this mountain region in which stone and wood are the main materials used.
In this restored village, the first SENSORY ECOPARK for the Blind in Portugal is also installed, an innovative concept that aims to bring to these citizens the possibility of apprehending the environment that surrounds them using the remaining senses, particularly touch and smell that everyone enjoys in this magical and ancestral place called Pia do Urso.
In Roman times, the place of Pia do Urso was used as a crossing point, and there still remains in the town of Alqueidão da Serra (Porto de Mós), a section of the road that then existed and served the large towns, namely Olissipo (Lisbon), Colipo (Batalha/Leiria) and then crossed in the direction of Bracara Augusta (Braga) to Mérida, then the capital of Lusitânia.
In the Middle Ages, more precisely in 1385, Pia do Urso was the crossing point for troops commanded by D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, on the journey from Ourém to Porto de Mós en route to Aljubarrota where, in that place, one of the most decisive battles for the affirmation of Portugal's independence took place.
The Constable, according to reports at the time, took advantage of this paradisiacal place to stop and rest, the Portuguese troops collected some chipped stones used in the Battle of Aljubarrota here.
The place of Pia do Urso was also a crossing point for the soldiers of the French invasions who, amid looting and massacres, decimated populations and heritage.
The place of Pia do Urso carries within it a mix of fable and magic, with two legends prevailing around this place, which are summarized below.
Old-timers say that the name was due to the fact that a bear (probably an Iberian Bear) used one of the sinks in the rock mass and frequently drank water there.
The sink in question, duly marked at the site, has a natural slope that would make it easier for this and other animals to ingest the liquid in a densely wooded area.
Another legend around Pia do Urso addresses the existence of an olive tree different from the others, because it has a black branch and throughout its life it never produced olives.
The elderly say that the French armies remained in the place due to the existence of the olive tree, which served as a hiding place for weapons, ammunition and gunpowder.
The route is made up of several interactive and playful stations, along the route it is possible to appreciate the flora, fauna, various geological formations called "sinks" where it is said that in the past bears came to drink, from which the origin of the toponymy derives: Pia do Urso.
Pia do Urso is a small restored village in the parish of São Mamede, in the municipality of Batalha, which includes an eco-sensory park known for its beautiful old stone houses, typical of mountain villages, with several stone and wooden houses located in the beautiful Serra de Aire e Candeeiros.
The Village of Pia do Urso offers visitors a truly stunning natural landscape, where you can also appreciate the magnificent restoration work on the typical houses of this mountain region in which stone and wood are the main materials used.
In this restored village, the first SENSORY ECOPARK for the Blind in Portugal is also installed, an innovative concept that aims to bring to these citizens the possibility of apprehending the environment that surrounds them using the remaining senses, particularly touch and smell that everyone enjoys in this magical and ancestral place called Pia do Urso.
In Roman times, the place of Pia do Urso was used as a crossing point, and there still remains in the town of Alqueidão da Serra (Porto de Mós), a section of the road that then existed and served the large towns, namely Olissipo (Lisbon), Colipo (Batalha/Leiria) and then crossed in the direction of Bracara Augusta (Braga) to Mérida, then the capital of Lusitânia.
In the Middle Ages, more precisely in 1385, Pia do Urso was the crossing point for troops commanded by D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, on the journey from Ourém to Porto de Mós en route to Aljubarrota where, in that place, one of the most decisive battles for the affirmation of Portugal's independence took place.
The Constable, according to reports at the time, took advantage of this paradisiacal place to stop and rest, the Portuguese troops collected some chipped stones used in the Battle of Aljubarrota here.
The place of Pia do Urso was also a crossing point for the soldiers of the French invasions who, amid looting and massacres, decimated populations and heritage.
The place of Pia do Urso carries within it a mix of fable and magic, with two legends prevailing around this place, which are summarized below.
Old-timers say that the name was due to the fact that a bear (probably an Iberian Bear) used one of the sinks in the rock mass and frequently drank water there.
The sink in question, duly marked at the site, has a natural slope that would make it easier for this and other animals to ingest the liquid in a densely wooded area.
Another legend around Pia do Urso addresses the existence of an olive tree different from the others, because it has a black branch and throughout its life it never produced olives.
The elderly say that the French armies remained in the place due to the existence of the olive tree, which served as a hiding place for weapons, ammunition and gunpowder.
