Serra do Bussaco - 3 pagina's |
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The Buçaco Forest The Buçaco Forest is a dense wood, many centuries old, where the trees are of a gigantic stature and are rich in essences, fragrances and brilliance. This unique forest was first settled by Benedictine monks in the 6th Century. Later, it was administered by priests from Coimbra Cathedral, and a Papal edict of 1622 declared that women entering the forest would be excommunicated.  The Discalced Carmelites, an order of barefooted monks, took over in 1628.
They built a monastery and surrounded the 250-acre (105-hectare) forest with a
wall.Over the centuries, the monks and the government foresters who succeeded them have planted nearly 400 Portuguese varieties of trees, shrubs, and flowers while importing some 300 species from as far away as Mexico, Chile, and Japan and from many other places all over the world. In 1810, 66,000 French troops attacked the Duke of Wellington and his army of British and Portuguese soldiers during the unsuccessful Napoleonic invasion of Portugal. The forest survived, and so did the monastery - although it fell into government hands in 1834, when monasteries were abolished throughout Portugal. |
Serra do Bussaco - 3 pagina's |
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De Serra do Bussaco | Wandelen in de Serra do Bussaco | Het Palace Hotel en het restaurant