Oeiras

Founded in 1759 by the Marquis of Pombal, as a reward granted by King Jos� I to his minister for having reconstructed downtown Lisbon after the great earthquake of 1755, it was at the county that he built a magnificent manor-house, the Palace of the Counts of Oeiras, which still exhibits grand stone staircases, statues, splendid tiles and beautiful gardens with cascades and an aqueduct with arches.

Oeiras was once part of a defensive line of maritime fortresses built along the Lisbon coast between the 16th and 17th centuries, including the Saint Lawrence Fort (known as Bugio, rising on a tiny islet in the middle of the river Tagus) and the S�o Juli�o da Barra Fort, both examples of the Renaissance military architecture.

Over the last decades, the county has benefited from an investment in cultural and tourism assets and now offers a range of new attractions and sites of interest, from F�brica da P�lvora (a former gunpowder factory from the 16th century which has been recovered for leisure and cultural purposes) to the Poets Park (a vast green space with statues of Portuguese poets and writers) and the Palace of the Royal Estate at Caxias, dating from the 18th century and surrounded by wonderful gardens.

Visitors may also benefit from different leisure and sports facilities, such as the sports complex of Jamor, the Maritime Walk (a seaside promenade to link Alg�s to the Torre beach) or the recent marina at Oeiras, prepared to welcome sixty ships, besides other parks and gardens.

The historical centres of several towns have also been recovered and display monuments and sites of interest in picturesque and pleasant settings, often including good restaurants, as is the case of Pa�o de Arcos.

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