{"id":59363,"date":"2026-10-14T15:44:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realdreams.pt\/?post_type=to-visit&p=59363"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:44:33","slug":"santo-antonio","status":"publish","type":"to-visit","link":"https:\/\/realdreams.pt\/it\/attractions-to-visit\/regions-of-portugal\/center-of-portugal\/santo-antonio\/","title":{"rendered":"Grutas de Santo Ant\u00f3nio"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Grutas de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, a few minutes from Alvados in the same limestone hills, are the family favourite of the Aire and Candeeiros caves: discovered almost by accident in 1955, they open into a single immense chamber dressed in unusual red and white draperies of stone, with lighting designed to turn the visit into a slow spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cave found by chance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The caves were discovered on 2 June 1955 by two men working near the Pedra do Altar, who followed a bird through a fissure in the rock; within a few years the first visitors were descending the new tunnel into what is still one of the largest chambers of the Maci\u00e7o Calc\u00e1rio Estremenho \u2014 big enough, its guides like to say, to hold a football pitch. Formations crowd every wall: curtains, organ pipes and, at the far end, a lake with a waterfall that the lights colour emerald and gold. The visit pairs naturally with the sister cave of Alvados<\/a> two kilometres away, and with the great Grutas de Mira de Aire<\/a> just beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cosa vedere<\/h2>\n\n\n\n