Welcome to Portugal Blog
Portuguese cork
Cork oak trees can live more than two centuries and start produce cork at around 25 years. Every nine years the bark is extracted and cork is used for several applications. Cork oak is a native tree species in Portugal and is responsible for a typical Portuguese landscape known as montado. Cork oak montados are in general managed as an agro-forestry system and its an ecosystem with many wildlife characteristic species.
Tags: Made in Portugal
Season’s Greetings
Portugal Web, Portugal Shop and Portugal Blog would like to wish to all their friends and costumers a Merry Christmas and a very successful New Year. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our costumers from 16 countries. We also would like to announce that Portugal Shop will have some new horse equipment surprises for the New Year!
Tags: Season's greetings
Golegã is the Lusitano horse capital
The National Horse Fair (Feira Nacional do Cavalo) has been happening at Golegã for 34 years now. Since eleven years ago it is also the International Lusitano Horse Fair (Feira Internacional do Cavalo Lusitano). Golegã council, with a little more than 5,500 inhabitants, has a long tradition in horse breeding. With a privileged location near the Tagus River and the ancient Royal Road, Golegã fields are very fertile. Therefore the agriculture has always been very productive and horse breeding has been an activity associated with it.
Tags: Equitation, Horses
Wonderful Portugal
No one would tell that due to a Greek poet one day we would distinguish the great wonders from the world and from Portugal. It was Antipater of Sidon who firstly referred the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. He has included places like the Great Pyramid of Giza, still standing until today and the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Based in this concept Bernard Weber, a Canadian born in Switzerland, decided to create an election for the New 7 World Wonders.
Tags: Tourism
Portuguese wine regions
There is no Portuguese region which does not have its own wine. From the North to the South, as well as in the Azores and Madeira islands, wine occupies an important place within the Portuguese agriculture context. Portuguese wine regions, have a long history. Since 1756, it was created the Douro wine region, the first demarcated wine region in the world. Here was where the Port wine, under British influence, had started already being produced. Port wine become probably the best known and appreciated fortified wine in the world. Today this wine region is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Portuguese horse breeds
If you love horses, then your life will not be complete without a visit to the beautiful country of Portugal. The history of equestrian culture in Portugal goes way back to ancient times. The famous Lusitano horse breed hails from this country, a product of hundreds of years of evolution. Horses, in many civilizations have played a pivotal role in enabling man to travel, hunt and of course, to wage war. This unique role in our society meant that along side us, horses too have evolved. Though we humans are now more capable of taking care of horses, and we no longer bring them to dangerous activities, they are still some of the finest beasts that roam our planet.
Tags: Equitation, Horses
I Lusitano Horse Festival from Aguas de Lindóia, Brazil
The importance from the most prestigious Portuguese horse breed, the Lusitano horse, in Brazil is long known and internationally recognized. Now the Brazilian Association of Lusitano Horse breeders (ABPSL) has chosen the city of Águas de Lindóia, in the Brazilian São Paulo state, to organize the I Lusitano Horse Festival from Aguas de Lindóia. This Lusitano Festival will occur between the 4th and 7th of September. This equestrian event will be organized in a similar format from the Lusitano horse fair organized every year in Golegã, Portugal.
Tags: Equitation, Horses
Joana Vasconcelos: an artist of traditions
At moment Joana Vasconcelos is one of the best known and recognized Portuguese artists. She was born in Paris, in 1971, although have studied a lives in the Portuguese capital. Joana obtained her degree in the school of fine arts AR.CO which is located in Lisbon. Her exhibitions have been already held in 14 countries where one of the most prominent was in the Venice Biennial 2005. Several awards have been already given to Joana’s work including the “The Winner Takes it All” from Fundação de Arte Moderna e Contemporânea – Colecção Berardo.
Tags: Artist
The Portuguese water dog
Suddenly a Portuguese dog’s breed, almost unknown, has become widely known internationally. This has happened when the US president Barack Obama has chosen to have in the White House a Portuguese water dog. In April 2009 Bo, probably the most internationally famous Portuguese water dog, was finally introduced to the world. He was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy, who recently passed away and who had been breeding Portuguese water dogs for a long time. Since then, thanks to Bo, the attention and interest in this Portuguese dog breed has risen which is certainly great news.
Tags: Animals
Douro Valley and Port Wine
The Douro valley is in the Nature Reserve List for the New 7 Wonders. The Reserve List contains nominees from the second phase of the Official New7Wonders of Nature that qualified as one of the top 77 nominees from over 440 nominees participating, but that did not qualify as one of the 28 Official Finalist Candidates announced on 21 July 2009. You will find hints from why the Douro valley is such special place, to be considered the only Portuguese nominee in the Nature Reserve list, from the description written at New 7 Wonders.
Tags: Drinks