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Odivelas
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One of the most recent Portuguese counties, Odivelas belongs to the Greater Lisbon Area and is set in a zone where the rapid urbanization has pratically eliminated all traces of the former rustic and agricultural region. Thus, there is little left of the old town which grew around the great monastery for nuns of the Cistercian Order, except for the Monastery of Saint Dinis itself, dating from the 13th century and displaying the beautiful and intricately sculpted tomb of King Dinis, who ordered the construction of the building, two fine cloisters and a Gothic portal from the 14th century. Near the town's Mother Church, there is a pleasant square with trees, a typical bandstand and an ancient memorial. At the hill of Amoreira, overlooking Odivelas and offering excellent views over the river Tagus, Palmela and the northern slope of the Serra da Arrábida mountains, it is worth visiting the Castle of Amoreira Archaeological Station, a fortress surrounded by walls from the 5th century BC. At the parish of Ramada, Moinho das Covas, a stone flour-mill built in 1884, has been restored and is a sort of live memory of the old rural region, with two floors and a store where visitors may watch the traditional process of grinding. Following the tradition left by the Monastery of Saint Dinis, where the nuns lived until the 19th century, Odivelas is proud of its conventual cakes and sweetmeats and of specialities such as marmalade and gourd jam.
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