Praia dash Masans

According to local legend, the name of the beach (from the Portuguese Praia das Maçãs is translated as “Apple beach”), which then went over to the village, was given by the Colares River, which, when entering the ocean, borders the beach from the south. In its middle course, the river flowed through farms, a significant part of the territory of which was occupied by apple orchards. Therefore, in the summer and autumn - just in the midst of the holiday season - she carried apples that fell from the trees into the ocean, which the surf then carried onto the sand of the beach ^[1] .

The hills surrounding Praia dash Masans were inhabited by humans back in the prehistoric era . Archaeological finds date back to the Stone and Copper Ages ( flint and copper tools, copper gods , ceramics , etc.) ^[1] .

Back in the 16th century, on the hill of Alto da Vigia , on the left bank of the Colares River, when it drains into the ocean, the ruins of a pagan sanctuary dedicated to the Sun and Moon were visible. At that time, they were visited by the “father of Portuguese archeology ” Andre di Resende , who replenished his collection of archaeological artifacts there , and the famous artist, architect and sculptor, court painter of King Joan III Francisco di Olanda , who used the ancient sanctuary in Praia das Masansh in his reconstruction of the ancient temple of the Sun and the Moon in the treatise "Da Fábrica que Falece à Cidade de Lisboa" ( "Facilities lacking in the city of Lisbon" ) ^[1] .

The modern history of Praia dash Masansh as a resort begins at the end of the 19th century , when three respected people in the area - the priest of the Parish of Colares father Matias del Campo, a landowner from nearby Azenhas do Mar Manuel Pregu and the famous Portuguese composer and artist Alfredo Cale , author the tunes of the national anthem of Portugal , built the first three houses on the hills bordering the beach ^[1] .

The popularity of the resort increased significantly at the beginning of the 20th century , when the Sintra tram line was built, linking Praia dash Masans with the Sintra train station , making the resort a convenient link to Lisbon. In 1952, an outdoor seawater pool was built in Praia dash Masans, making the resort year-round.

A relatively small in depth, but rather long beach, with golden sand and very clear sea water, is extremely popular for family vacations, as well as among lovers of water sports, primarily surfing and bodyboarding (“lying surfing”). On the flat cliffs that border the beach, protruding into the ocean, platforms for safe fishing are equipped ^[1] .

Due to the presence of an outdoor pool with heated sea water, the resort has become all-weather and year-round. The pool has a bowl 25 × 50 m in size, with eight paths, open daily from 10:00 to 19:00 Also in the pool there are tennis courts ^[2] .

• Praia dash Masansch is connected to Sintra by bus No. 441 of the pt: Scotturb company (the final stop in Sintra is the Portela di Sintra railway station, the penultimate one on the Sintra line , if traveling from Lisbon). The bus runs daily, traffic is from approximately 6 to 20 hours, once an hour, in both directions. Travel time from Sintra to Praia dash Masans is about 20 minutes ^[3] .
• In the summer, also Praia dash Masansch connects with Sintra the line of the historical tram . As of the summer of 2016, the tram operates from June 22 to September 18, five times a week, from Wednesday to Sunday, and makes six round-trip flights, with an interval of 1 hour. A one-way trip takes 45 minutes ^[4] .

• The famous Portuguese realist artist Jose Maloa in 1918 portrayed a scene from the local spa life in his painting Praia das Masans , painted in oil on a wooden board. Since 1926, the painting has been in the Chiado Museum in Lisbon .
• Romanian singer Inna in 2009 on the beach of Praia dash Masansh made a video clip for the song “ Amazing ” from her debut album “ Hot ”.

On the night of January 14, 2015, the Santa Maria dos Anjos fishing trawler rolled over and sank in the ocean one kilometer from Praia dash Masans. Of the six crew members, only one, 27-year-old Portuguese Portuguese of French descent, Henri Ferreira, managed to swim to the shore and raise the alarm in the village ^[5] .

Searches that continued for a week were unsuccessful. The nets and wreckage of a sunken trawler were thrown onto the beach in Praia dash Masansh, but the bodies of the drowned were never found. Currently, five fishermen are reported missing ^[6] .