1. “Elected long time ago as the main location for diving
with a hard hat in the Portuguese coast, the Berlengas’
waters hide everything the human imagination can
create.”

2. BOBBIN LACE
 “Onde há rede , tem renda” (Fishermen’s wives)
 Due to the lack of fish & crops Raise family income
 Agile embroiderers (decided to use their skills to
start doing Bobbin Lace)
 Hard to explain

3. BOBBIN LACE - History
 Milan – France (Louis XIV)
 Only in the 16 century B.L. appeared in Portugal
 Four important centers:
Vila do Conde, Peniche, Lagos, Olhão
Later – Setúbal & Sesimbra
 1887 Creation of D. Maria Pia Industrial Drawing School
(Later Josefa de óbidos industrial embroidery school) = the
lace of peniche reached the highest level of perfection

4. BOBBIN LACE - Curiosities
 With industrialization, bobbin lace in peniche started
decreasing. Luckily, with the appearance of several
facilities, the art is now safe
 Curisosities:
Girls learn to embroid with 8 or 9 bobbins but with time
they can reach as much as 64
Portuguese women took the activity to brazil where it is
called “rendas de praia”

5. Peniche
Sta Catarina, Brazil

6. BERLENGAS
 Location: 12km from
the Peniche port
1500 meters long and
800 meters wide
with a perimeter of 4000
meters
reaches 88 meters
 Composed by three
islets
Berlenga/Estelas/
Farilhões-Forcados

7. Historic Intro
 Due to its strategic location, the island has seen its
waters anchored by vessels of many time periods
 The memory of these vessels is maintained by the many
sub-aquatic findings produced in recent years
stone anchors from the Phoenician-Punic eras
stocks of led and amphora anchors of the Roman period
artillery objects (15c)

8. Historic Intro
 St. John the Baptist Fortress:
Odered by John IV in 1651
Concluded in 1656
 Built to prevent the island’s occupation by the North
African corsairs
 Survived until June 1666, when the most remarkable
war episode of its history took place (Spanish attack)

9. Historic Intro
 Duke of Braganza’s
Lighthouse:
Built in 1841, 29m high,
two lighthouse keepers 24/7

10. Geology
The Berlenga granite corresponds to a unique
geological type in the European continent
Unlike the coast of Peniche, formed by sedimentary
rocks, the archipelago of Berlengas is mainly formed by
magma and metamorphic rocks,
just like the highly deformed
red granite, gneiss, and shale –
can prove

11. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Region of great interest for botanical specialists with
several endemic species and species of limited
distribution
 A nesting spot for some species of ocean birds and a
passing point for several migratory species
 A Maritime Reserve of great wild life richness

12. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Why?
Biological value of the maritime surrounding area
Botanic interest
Fauna (Maritime Birds)
Archeological
Sub-aquatic patrimony

13. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Birds:
Nesting species- European shag
Cory Shearwater
Guillemot
Other birds - Lesser black-backed gulls
Yellow legged gulls (Plague)

14. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Reptiles:
Bocage’s wall lizards
Jewelled lizard

15. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Mammals:
European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Black rat (Rattus rattus)

16. Natural Reserve (NCI)
 Flora
Creeper vegetation, composed of herbaceous and
shrubby plants
Endemic species:
Armeria berlengensis
Herniaria berlengiana
Carpobrotus edulis
Cornish Tree