Windmills of Abelheira

Marinhas (Abelheira)

The windmills of Abelheira are a testimony of the cereal richness of this region. They are cylindrical body buildings, built in granite and located on the hillside, where prevailing winds could be well used.

Another way to reduce cereal to flour for food was to use the hydraulic power of the streams. This is the case of the Abelheira river, where many water mills once ran. These water-mills were known as "copeiras", or "mountain", in a clear allusion to their mechanism of harnessing the force of the waters.