Today was a drizzly, rainy day everywhere we went. After breakfast, we drove to Comporta to see the beach. The beach was deserted and stretched for miles in either direction. For miles along the road, we passed rice paddies, groves of cork trees, and pine forests grown for pine nuts. The Portuguese are efficient at growing various crops in the same fields.
When we got back to the pousada, we toured the archeological crypt under the castle. In 1994, the government of Portugal determined to save the ancient castle from ruin. While cleaning up the site, archaeologists uncovered a complex network of structures dating from prehistoric times to modern times. An elaborate foundation structure was designed for the new pousada, to preserve the ruins under the new part of the pousada building while also keeping the castle walls intact.
We enjoyed seeing artifacts from the Iron Age to the 1800's.
