spring water a kilometre from Comenda
There's a Roman bridge here. Not a ruin identified by a sign in an empty field, but a structure that still crosses the stream, set within a picnic area with barbecues and children running around. That contrast is exactly the scene at Ribeira da Venda.
The park is in the parish of Comenda, in the Gavião municipality, in a valley enclosed by leafy trees that make the space shadier and cooler than most river parks in the Alentejo. The water comes from a spring, which changes the logic of the weir, and there's a children's pool separate from the main beach area.
The old Roman bridge at Ribeira da Venda is the detail nobody forgets after visiting. It isn't large, but it's there, stone, functional for centuries, with the stream passing underneath as it always has. It's worth crossing it and looking back at the weir from there, with the park behind and the Comenda valley around you.
what you'll find
- the Roman bridge, in the middle of the park, with no safety barrier keeping you at a distance
- a children's pool separate from the beach area by the weir
- barbecues available in the picnic area
- a fitness trail through the trees
