Portugal in Ericeira

I mentioned before that I had spent a couple of weeks visiting my big brother in Portugal, it had been at least 35 years since I had last visited....My lovely brother and his wife gave us a view of the country, places that I had not visited before!!!! Like Mafra, Ericeira and Sintra all very old and full of history... I have been reading about this quaint town of Ericeira....
Ericeira is so called due to the fact that there is lots of sea-urchins locally... Very ancient and although its origin is not really known it is thought to been visited by the Phoenicians and the said people could be their decedents....  The entire region was conquered after Lisbon was taken from the Moors.
In 1229 Dom Peres Fernao Rodrigues Monteiro master of the order of Avis granted Ericeira its first charter... Then king Dom Manuel I, gave the town to his son Dom Luis, who later bequeathed it to his son Dom Antonio do Crato...
So much history here in this small town! It was from here that the then Royal family embarked on their way to exile 5th of Oct in 1910