The riders have filled up on some lovely Portuguese dishes courtesy of the Casa da Vila in Pêro Pinheiro, and now they are back out on the road again for the final leg of the journey which will see them return back to Cascais.
But before we get to Pêro Pinheiro, lets talk a little about Mafra where the team took a little pitstop to grab some fantastic pictures.
Magical Mafra
I’m so glad everyone decided to stop in front of the National Palace for a picture, as not only did it make for a fantastic photo opportunity, but it gave me something else to talk about!
Mafra is a City in the Greater Lisbon subregion, and is mostly known for the aforementioned National Palace, which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mafra has a population of 76,685 (so slightly larger than Santa Isidoro) as of 2011, but again I suspect this has risen considerably in the last 13 years.
Some of the oldest archaeological remnants found in the region can be dated back to around 7000 B.C, which is coincidentally around the same time Nick L got his first pushbike.
The area is steeped in history, with many Roman artifacts and even Roman Roads discovered in the area, and historians can say with certainty that Mafra was at one point a fortified community, with the City walls still being visible in some areas.
Mafra also has THREE Twin Towns/Sister Cities and you know we love that! Mafra is in facr twinned with Frehel in France, Leimen in Germany and Mindelo in Cape Verdi.
It is also the hometown of footballers Pedro Espinha, Alexandre Leitao and Pedro Bonifacio, with Espinha having 6 caps for the national team.
Pêro Pinheiro
Moving on to Pêro Pinheiro, and we have some more thrilling population stats!
Stats that actually make me look like a bit of a mug, as they show that the population actually declined here quite significantly between 2001 (4712) and 2011 (4246) so maybe my assumptions that population had grown since 2011 elsewhere are actually wildly incorrect.
Anyway, three units of the Portuguese Air Force are located in the parish of Pêro Pinheiro, with the presence of aviation in the area dating back to 1920 and the first base being constructed a short time later in 1939.
The squadrons in situ are the 401st Scientists, the 502nd Elephants, and the 507th Jacares, or Alligators in English.
The End is Near…
I could say more about Pero, but unfortunately the end of the ride is drawing near!
In fact the team are about 10k out from the finish line as I write this, so I’m going to grab a celebratory drink and await the message that everyone has made it around safely!
Stay with me as I’ll be back with a final wrap up post, and a total raised for the day!