Its Softsoap  and Soapstone were widely known throughout the kingdom.

The soap production took undeniable economic and social importance in Belver village. In this town was created a Royal Soap Factory that worked in royal monopoly of which there are still traces.

The royal concession economically optimized the Belver parish and that was the start up for some  royal soap factory workers. They took advantage of the knowledge acquired as well as the main raw materials to create their own  industries when this monopoly ended in 1858.

These industries or houses of Soft Soap, as they were called, constituted themselves as small strictly family-friendly productions, passed from generation to generation.

After packed up in twill and burlap bags, soap was mainly used in washing clothes and fabrics. Transported out of the county by mule drivers, who traveled on donkeys, when distances were larger, the soft soap was carried by the Tagus River on barges. The production of soap in this way lasted until the first half of the twentieth century, and for several decades a structural element in the Belver region economy. This production remain today only oral records of the descendants of the last soap men.

The recovery and transformation of the former elementary school in Belver Soap Museum aims to create a space of knowledge acquired by our ancestors and honor the collective memory of soap men in Belver.

Was built in the 15th Century but was altered throughout the years.

Considered one of the most complete medieval Portuguese military architecture, stands isolated on top of a granite hill, west to the town, in a dominant position on the confluence of Belver river with the right bank of the Tagus river, manning the so-called Line Tagus.

At the time of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula, a wave of assaults forces the Almohad Caliphate under the Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya’qub command al-Mansur, determined the retreat of Christian boundaries to the line of the Tagus River (1190-1191) . In this context, in 1194, Sancho I (1185-1211) donated the region between the river Zêzere and the River Tagus, called Guidintesta, Guidi in forehead or Costa, the Prior of the Knights Hospitaller, Afonso Pais, for there to build a castle, called Belver by the monarch.

In 1210, when King Sancho I wrote his will, the Hospitallers received significant part of the heritage. It is believed that the castle was completed between sometime between 1210 and 1212.

During the reign of Sancho II of Portugal (1223-1248) the royal treasure was kept here.

Between 1336 and 1341, the village of Belver and its castle were one of the most important Commanderies the Hospital Order.

The 1755 earthquake caused severe damages and was abandoned for many years, being used as the town cemetery during the 19th Century.

Was after the 1909 quake that the authorities took measure into their own hands and in 1910 was considered National Monument. And it has been reconstructed since 1940 till 2005.

The Castle of Belver is located in Belver at the Gavião municipality and Portalegre District.

The Picnic Park of Ribeira da Venda has a river beach area next to the pond and a children’s pool (free admission).

As support services you can find the picnic area with barbecues, toilets and changing rooms, playground, fitness circuit and even the Snack Bar and Restaurant with terrace.

This seems to be a magical place design by nature!

An extend sandy beach, where the River Tagus can find a place to rest on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Its an unique environmental experiment.

Despite of all the quietness and pure nature it offers the following services:

- Easy Pedestrian access from the surrounding public roads;
- Organized parking and reserved seats for vehicles at the disposal of persons with disabilities;
- Pedestrian access through accessible route to the area of sunbathing and as close to the bathing area;
- Treadmills on the beach and in other cases a paved path, steady and continuous;
- Adapted Sanitary facilities
- A first aid station
- Life Guard

Visitors can watch all the tools required for wine production used in the past, such as the wooden spindle, single piece crafted in wood holm oak, among other pieces offered by the village as well as cereals and utensils used in bread making.