Key takeaways:
- In northern Portugal, a land peculiarity has bewildered researchers for a long time: the uncommon Pedras Parideiras, or “Birthing Stones,” which appear to generate child rocks supernaturally.
- The breeze whipped across my face as I remained on the edge of a massive level in distant northern Portugal.
Lavender-blue cloudiness extended across the skyline, and I could make out the layout of a lofty cascade as it flowed down the mountain underneath.
Sensitive yellow blossoms made wraps of variety in the generally cloudy scene. Peering down at the mountains spread out before me like an undulating rug, I felt as though I was remaining at the edge of the world, and I could see why these were known as the Montanhas Mágicas (Wizardry Mountains).
I was in the Arouca Unesco Worldwide Geopark. This outdoor historical center has fascinated mainstream researchers for quite some time because of the sheer number of topographical wonders. It contains 41 separate sites altogether. These incorporate a portion of the world’s most excellent trilobite fossils – arthropods that lived more than a century – land separation points and powerful stone developments etched by water north of millions of years.
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Be that as it may, I had not come to see any of these – truly fascinating – regular displays. I had come for something significantly captivating: one of the world’s most remarkable topographical peculiarities.
Pulling myself away from the mountain view, I went on towards my objective: the tiny town of Castanheira. Settled on the side of the Freita Mountain (one of the Enchanted Mountains situated inside the geopark), the city is home to the Pedras Parideiras, or “Birthing Stones” in English – 300-million-year-old shakes that appear to “conceive an offspring” to more modest “child” stones. They are not typical of some other rocks in the world.
