Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Leiria - Portugal

In October 2017, 86% of the Leiria pine forest area was completely destroyed by an huge fire. Since then, several initiatives have been developed to recover the forest. Postcrossing joined one of these initiatives and for the 2nd consecutive year, some postcrossers, including Óscar, who sent me this postcard, rolled up their sleeves, grabbed their hoes and went to Leiria to plant trees. 

www.edigpostais.com
Leiria, located in the center of Portugal is a beautiful city with a strong historical character bathed and influenced by the rivers Lis and Lena.
The Castle is the ultimate symbol of Leiria and from here its history and development unfolded, having been an important landmark of Portuguese nationality (...).
Leiria was also had an important role  in the history of the Portuguese Discoveries, as it was in this area that the pine forest was planted and which provided  the timber and pitch used in the building of Portuguese ships, especially during the period of the Discoveries, that allowed the country to sail to other worlds. It was D. Afonso III in the 13th century that started planting the pines, and with King D. Dinis (between 1279 and 1325) this culture was intensified. 

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