Located on valley of the river Tenente, the mines of Moimenta had great economic importance in these parts of the Montemuro mountain. Having its exploitation started in the middle of the last century, reached the highest peak during the Second World War. As in many other mines in the area, this was a tungsten and tin mine, since this area is inserted in deposits of wolfram distributed from Galicia to Castile, crossing the northern and central Portugal. According to former miners, at the time, the mining complex was quite mechanized, which facilitated the opening of large galleries reminding us of impressive natural caves.
Mines of Moimenta are an important refuge for several species of cave bats, having here excellent habitat conditions – scarce in these mountain regions – both for hibernation, as for shelter at other times of the year. Resting in the mine galleries we can observe several species like the greater horseshoe bat, the mediterranean horseshoe bat, the lesser horseshoe bat and the common bent-wing bat.
On the hill surrounded by the river Tenente and the stream of Levadas stands the ancient site known as Cabeço dos Mouros. This monument, classified as public interest, has great archaeological value, estimating its origin back to the Iron Age, about the seventh century B.C. As in many other monuments of this type, it is located on a high point of difficult access, with good visibility of the surrounding landscape, which allowed a better defense of the town and people living here. In this place you can still see the layouts of two typical small circular houses of that period.
