Presépio de Sal- Nativity Scene of Salt

Despite the damp day, Harald, Bela, Marc and myself headed off to Castro Marim to see the  Presépio de Sal- Nativity Scene of Salt.

Last year Marc and I went to Vila Real to see their presentation, which was pretty phenomenal, however, this one, although different, did not disappoint.  The “featured photo” above is a shot taken as we entered the room just to give you an idea of size.

Bela enjoyed a chat with one of the women working and learned that this entire display is assembled and maintained by four local men.  There are 10 tons of sea salt used and once the display is eventually dimantled the salt is taken into the mountains where there may be snow on the roads and used for that purpose.

All of thee figurines are hand made and hand-painted.  The ones that have moving parts, there are many, or of wood, are made by local Portuguese people.  The others come from Spain or Italy.  Each year the exhibit is growing in size, which means more salt, more figurines etc..

I’m not going to say much more or tag many of the photos as the ones of the nativity village speak for themselves.  Enjoy.

Impressive and a very enjoyable outing.  We wandered a little, visited the local tourist office, found a place for a satisfying and delicious lunch then wound our way back home.

A lovely wall tile.

I’m not certain why I like this but I do!

Flags decorating the old castle,which overlooks the town.

I love the green tiles.

The old pink decorations above the doors and windows must have been gorgeous when it was originally completed.

A rather plump Christmas tree in the tourist office.

Lovely lemons just out of my reach!!!

Happily the rain stayed away until we were tucked away inside the restaurant.

Again, must have been beautiful in it’s time.

As we wandered around town we noticed a new sculpture that was not there last year…….here it is…..

On closer inspection……..this is what we found…subtle but effective.