Iconological Park | Penha Garcia
The history of the Iconological Park of Penha Garcia dates back 480 million years ago, when the region was bathed by an ocean full of life. A succession of these oceanic funds is currently visible transformed into vertical quartzitic layers based of fantastic traces of the activity of trilobites, the Cruziana and other marine beings. The fossils of the Iconological Park of Penha Garcia give relevance to one of the main geosites of the Naturtejo Geographical Park Recognized by UNESCO.
In the cliffs that haunt the valley of the Ponsul River, 36 forms of animal behaviour have been identified so far dating back about 480 million years ago.
Of extraordinary abundance and preservation, here are some of the most complex strategies developed by trilobites throughout their lives, paradigms of the evolution of this important group of arthropods, extinct about 250 million years ago.
The patterns of biological origin that fill the verticalized layers of quartzite represent the livelihoods of marine communities that once inhabited the sandy bottoms of an ocean located in the southern hemisphere.
FOSSIL ROUTE
Penha Garcia is part of the fossil route of the Naturtejo Geopark, and between the cliffs of the village to the Pônsul River there are 3 kilometres that make us retreat 500 million years, to the promorphic days of life. The route of fossils, a pedestrian route created in 2003 by the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, shows why the Iconological Park of Penha Garcia Shows why the Iconological Park of Penha Garcia has become a place of worship for paleontologists and scientists from all over the world. It is also one of the main jewels of the crown of the Naturtejo Geopark, the first Portuguese geopark inserted in the UNESCO network.
