Discover Portugal and Explore the Dinosaur Footprints of Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros
- Nov 3, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 6
Portugal offers a remarkable journey into its Jurassic past through fossil sites and natural wonders. At Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros, visitors can explore the Natural Monument of Dinosaur Footprints, where sauropod and theropod trackways reveal ancient ecosystems. The Estremenho Limestone Massif showcases karst landscapes shaped by tectonic uplift and erosion, while the Mira de Aire Caves display spectacular stalactites, stalagmites, and underground rivers. Nearby destinations such as Nazaré and Leiria enrich the experience with cultural heritage. This region combines geology, palaeontology, and tourism, making it one of Portugal’s most accessible and fascinating places to discover dinosaurs, footprints, and natural history.
Discovered in 1994 by João Carvalho this fossil site is now a National Monument that celebrates an ancient ecosystem where once dinosaurs coexisted according to the fossils of their manus and pes prints or hand and footprints known as a ichnites.
This area was once a warm-water, tropical to subtropical place where large, long necked and four-legged plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs lived among two-legged meat eating theropods. This fossil site sheltered shallow marine coastal area known as an intertidal flat such as a lagoon, estuary or bay that would have been only been exposed between high and low tide.
This site is easily visible near the village of Bairrob overlooked by a metal installation of "Aramossauro" a sauropod and local mascot looking over the Galinha and Vale de Melos quarries.
These quarries expose over 20 sauropod dinosaur tracks with two measuring over 140 meters and more than 700 theropod tracks including the oldest occurrence of Megalosauripus considered as one of the most widespread Late Jurassic tridactyl ichnotaxa made by large theropods in Europe, America, and Asia dating back to the Middle Jurassic 174.1–163.5 million years ago.
The Estremenho Limestone Massif or Massif Calcário Estremenho forms part of an extensional rift basin located along the larger carbonate platform of the Western Iberian Margin and whose formation was influenced by the tectonic activity that opened the North Atlantic Ocean.
As part of the Sierra de Aire Formation dated to the Bathonian Age an Age named after the English spa town of Bath built on Jurassic limestone. The Bathonian Age was third of the four divisions of the Middle Jurassic Epoch dated at between 168.3 million and 166.1 million years ago.
Bordered by the Candeeiros and Aire mountain ranges this area is regarded as the most important limestone formations in Portugal covering an area of over 380 Km2 and known not only for its dinosaur footprints but also for its impressive karst scenery.
Within this local karst scenery is Portugal's largest cave at Grutas de Mira de Aire or the Mira de Aire Caves. Located within the Estremenho Limestone Massif these caves are part of an extensive karst system shaped by the dissolution of limestone over millions of years.
The caves are known for their intricate network of stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and other speleothems that formed as acidic water seeped through the rock, dissolving calcium carbonate and depositing it in the cave system.
The Mira de Aire Caves showcase various geological formations, from narrow tunnels to vast chambers, with some spaces reaching significant sizes.
Many of these features have names such as "The Big Room", "The Organ", "The Martian" and the "Majestic Dome" and provide insight into the complex interplay between water, rock, time and any seasonal variations in water levels and the slow dripping of mineral-rich water create the unique textures and colours that decorate the cave walls and ceilings.
Apart from being a tourist attraction the karst system of aquifers and extensive network of underground rivers and springs within the Estremenho Limestone Massif is a critical source of fresh water supplying the surrounding areas and especially important in the Spring and Summer months.
This area of the Estremenho Limestone Massif is a Jurassic limestone-dominated karst region shaped by tectonic uplift, marine deposition, and extensive erosion that has captured in its fossil record a unique setting where dinosaurs coexisted.
