Alter do Chão - Crato

We wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to visit one of the most famous stud farms in Europe, about 4 km from Alter do Chão, so we take advantage of the morning to do so. On our way back, we enjoy a gluttonous Fatia da China ("Slice of China", sweet bread slices) in a local pastry and leave the "Abelterium", Roman name of the village, for less than a kilometre, until the trail ends on national road N245, without sidewalks and some traffic. Carefully, we travel about 2 km of asphalt to the IC13 junction and cross the roundabouts as quickly as possible.

We continue on the other side, still on the road but more at peace, almost without traffic, even if with some effort due to the ascent of São Lourenço hill. On the way, the old "parallels" of black stone that paved the old Portuguese roads replace the asphalt, and from afar we can see Crato, our destination. We start to descend and shortly ahead we find a sign indicating a deviation to the left, the path of Murtal, which we follow along the fence. On the left, at the top of the hill and next to a holm oak tree, we discover the location of the Anta do Crato dolmen, also locally known as Anta do Couto dos Andreiros. There are also many other dolmens we could refer in this region rich in megalithic heritage. We arrive then at a eucalyptus forest that accompanies us until we cross the ford of a stream (Linhais), right next to the railway bridge. We will then follow its line on a narrow path until we cross it. A little further on, the Path enters a shaded area along the Seda stream and surprises us with the medieval Ponte Velha do Prado bridge. Further on, we find our well-known N245 but, instead of following it, we curve to a trail on the left, which leads us to the Roman bridge of Chocanal. We face the steep ascent, with a high factory chimney as a reference, and return to the N245, just off the Portas de Seda do Crato square. We continue to walk up Rua de Santa Maria, we pass the main church and, before turning left, we can see the ruins of the old castle on the right. We arrived at the Praça do Município square, the end of today's stage.