The Aljezur River () is a small river in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

region of the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

. The river runs westwards for from its start in the village of

Aljezur Aljezur () is a town and municipality of the District of Faro and Algarve region, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,884, in an area of 323.50 km². The municipality comprises 4 parishes. History Aljezur Do árabe al jazair, plur ...

from the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the River Alfambres and River Cerca to its mouth on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

western Algarve coast at Praia da Amoreira.

Description

From its confluence the river loops through a ravine around the base of a hill on which is the ruins of the Morrish castle of

( pt, Castelo de Aljezur). The Moors constructed a port at the base of the castle and made the river navigable out to the ocean at Amoreira. The river and port remained navigable until the 18th century after which channel fell into a state of disrepair following the destruction of the village caused by the 1755 earthquake. From Aljezur the river meanders through a narrow valley which is within the Vicentine Coast Natural Park at the seaward end the river opens up to a narrow marshland estuary. This habitat supports such creatures as

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s, marsh warblers,

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...

s and

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

References

Aljezur {{Portugal-river-stub