Salinas de Rio Maior, Rio Maior

The Salinas da Fonte da Bica are in the Tifónico valley, at the foot of the Candeeiros Mountains, three kilometers from Rio Maior, Portugal.

Named Salinas da Fonte da Bica, better known as Salinas de Rio Maior, they were mainly owned by the owners of Fonte da Bica and as it was located relatively close, in the documents and deeds the correct and original term is applied, Salinas da Fonte da Bica. As can be seen in the cultural heritage of Portugal.

These are compartments - butcher's shops - made of cement or stone, of varying size and shallow depth, into which the salt water that is drawn from a well is conducted by means of gutters.

Nowadays, the water is raised by means of a motor and distributed according to a system jointly accepted and respected by all the owners. The sewers, the threshing floors and the wooden houses for salt storage complete the set of what is called Marinhas de Sal de Rio Maior.

A rock-salt mine, extensive and deep, according to the technicians, crossed by an underground current that feeds a well, makes the water extracted from it salty, seven times saltier than the sea. From its exposure to sun and wind and the consequent evaporation of water, salt is obtained, deposited at the bottom of the butcher shops, which is then placed in piles, in the shape of pyramids, to dry until it is collected.

The process is rudimentary and similar to that used in the seaside salt pans. The only difference is the picturesque valley that surrounds them, the well, the sailors' own style, the wooden houses, and the country air you breathe.