Tapada Nacional de Mafra - National Parks of the World on Waymarking.com

Today it stands out as a natural patrimony of unique features with an area of over eight hundred hectares where red deers, fallow deers, wild boars, foxes, birds of prey and many other species dwell in a scenery of an unusual rich and diversified flora. As it has always been the best place for hunting and the leisure of sovereigns, the Tapada de Mafra still holds its noble state which is thoroughly respected and preserved.

Not only is the Tapada de Mafra interesting due to its natural patrimony but also because of its Museums. The former undoubtedly plays and important role in awareness activities and in environmental education and the latter comprise the Tojeira Museum with its antique fire arm collection and the collection of red deer’s and fallow deer’s antlers. The Car Museum of Animal Traction with its breques, aranhas, landaus, vitórias, faytons, coupés and other cars of the nineteenth century. All of this make the Tapada de Mafra a necessary stop in every quality tour guide of the Lisbon region.

The Tapada de Mafra has a great variety of activities and services at you disposal however it does so bearing in mind its constant harmony with nature. Thus it never loses sight of its unique state of a true natural jewel one needs to preserve. The public in general can visit and travel in the Tapada by articulated train or by following its pedestrian trails. There are also tracks for BTT and the bow and the cross-bow lovers can find the Tapada the ideal place for the practice of this sport eight in a shooting field or in special hunting areas.

Taking advantage of the majestic scenery, the Tapada de Mafra also has facilities and every back up infrastructures to hold meetings for festive or entrepreneurial events. The Guest House of rural tourism is open throughout the year and it provides the best conditions to lodge the hunting participants, to hold business meetings and to allow strategic reflections of little groups who can also use King Carlos Hunting Pavilion for the same purpose.

The Tapada is still the National Hunting Zone. Today as it was in its foundation, the hunting exercise is carried out under unique conditions and in total respect for nature. In the Tapada there are no natural predators that can control the density or select the animal population, therefore hunting has fulfilled this role taking into account the adequate cynegetic management of the area.

HISTORY

The Tapada history is closely linked to the construction of the Mafra Palace which is an emblematic work of the Portuguese baroque during king João V’s realm as a way to honour his promise in case the Queen would present him with a male heir. The Tapada was also a privileged place to hunt for the Portuguese monarchs, particularly those who lived in the time of King Luis (1861-1899) and King Carlos (1899-1908) realms. As the republic replaced the monarchy, its name changed to the National Tapada de Mafra. Its main activities were hunting and protocol acts. From 1941 on it is management by the General Administration of the Forest and Aquicultural Services which have directed its activity to the silvicolous area. Currently the management of the 819 hectares of the Tapada is under the responsibility of a Corporation.

More than 250 years have gone by since the creation of the Tapada, therefore its current management intends to overcome new challenges that the natural areas have to face nowadays by promoting investigation, conservation of animals and plants, environmental education and the cynegetic activity. Bearing in mind its patrimony and privileged location, the Tapada offers services of rural tourism which contribute to ensure the financial maintenance of the activities related to nature preservation and environmental education.

In the last few years the Tapada has become an important place of study, investigation and experiments for many scientists working in the most important national universities. Their results have influenced the management of this area very positively.

In the future, the Tapada intends to continue investing on the natural habitats and its high quality standards which have been made available to the thousands of visitors who are annually welcomed.

FAUNA AND FLORA

The land is characterised by a steep landscape bounded by refreshing water lines and trees such as the cork oak, oaks, sycamores, chestnuts, cottonwoods, willows, narrow leaved ashes and olive trees. It is under the shadow of the kermes oak, the hawthorn, the flax, the leaved daphne, the mastic tree and among the heathers that one can watch the red deer and the fallow deer populations and a great number of wild boars running wild and free. These three are the largest mammals that live in Tapada.

The red deer are large sized animals, with brown hides and a yellow-brown tails. The fallow deer are smaller sized animals, the colour of their hides varies from grey in winter to brown with spots in the summer and have black and white tail. In both species only the males have antlers, bone structures which unlike horns fall off every year and then grown back again. The antlers are pointed and branched in the case of the reed deer and flattened in the case of the fallow deer. They are both from the same family (Cervidae) and feed mainly on grass, fruits as well as tree and shrubs sprouts.

The wild boar is a crepuscular animal from the same family of domestic pig. The cubs are born in mid March, 2-10 per female, which in turn makes the females more active during daytime. When it is born and until it reaches 6 months of age the young are light brown in colour with longitudinal stripes which is the reason why they are referred to as “stripes”. It will gradually lose its stripes until it gains the adult colour which varies between grey and black.

The quietest visitors may be rewarded with the presence of some species running free such as foxes, jennets, mongoose and a great variety of birds such as the barbary partridges, cuckoos, larks, thrushes, song thrushes, kingfishers, owls among other animals which complete the portrait of the preserved wild life in the Tapada Nacional de Mafra.

Park Name: Tapada de Mafra Historic/Cultural Park: yes Natural Park: yes Recreation Area: yes Wildlife Refuge: yes Park Website: [Web Link] Type of Listing: Entrance Fees in Local Currency: 3.00 (listed in local currency) Dates of Access: From: 01/01/2010 To: 12/31/2010 Hiking: yes Bicycling: yes Horseback Riding: yes Off-Roading: no Swimming: no Snorkling/Scuba: no Boating: no Rock Climbing: no Fishing: no Other Activities: Articulated Train Picnic Hiking (with a guide or not) - 3 different courses with different degrees Museum bow and cross bow School Trips Other Park Type not listed above: Not listed Other Type Detail: Not listed Hours available: Not listed Camping: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:

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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/28/2012 Kelux visited it 04/14/2012 paulohercules visited it 03/19/2011 Fisioloucos visited it 07/10/2010 mtrevas visited it 06/22/2010 h_raky visited it 04/10/2010 viperunderground visited it

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