Mushroom rocks from Arez - Alpalhão
Alpalhão - Nisa

A strange garden grows in the vastness of the Nisa plains: a garden where “rock mushrooms” flourish. Rocks with the shape of fungi: how is it possible? The “rock mushrooms” were produced after two stages: during the first one a granite block was partially buried in the soil. The buried part was exposed to humic acids naturally present in the soil. Consequently the buried part was eroded more intensely than the unburied one. The second stage begins at the end of the last Ice Age: the soil covering part of the granite block was eroded, thus exposing entirely the mushroom rock.

Alpalhão is an inspiring place for “stone mushrooms” and for many other weird granite morphologies: here you can admire alveolar weathering (in the central square of Alpalhão) and granite monoliths (Senhora da Redonda monolith) . Alpalhão is not only the place for the “art of the Nature”: in the streets of the village you will find open-air contemporary art masterpieces.