Marquês de Pombal was responsible for Lisbon's reconstruction, but as the founder of Vila Real de Santo António, he was also in charge of constructing the new Portuguese town. Therefore, the design of both cities' downtowns is similar, with parallel streets that lead to a magnificent square in front of a river. At the posted coordinates, there is a big statue of Marquês de Pombal.
Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) has a deep-rooted historical and modern relationship with the fish industry, serving as a key southern Portuguese hub for canning, fishing, and aquaculture, particularly in tuna and sardine production. Historically, the town was a prominent industrial center for fish preserves, and today it is transitioning toward high-tech offshore aquaculture. The first factory was opened here in 1853 by Ramirez . They are considered to be the original Portuguese brand of canned fish, and they also claim to be the world’s oldest producer of canned fish. They were not the only company though; there were once hundreds canneries in the Algarve, most of whom were Italian, French or Spanish, all producing canned fish and exporting around the world.
Vila Real de Santo António hosts the Arquivo Historico Municipal Antonio Rosa Mendes. This is a small museum about the fish industry and the canning process in the 19th century. Entrance is free and it is certainly worth a visit, also because of the architecture of the old building and the splendid floor.
On the ground floor of the museum, there is a permanent exhibition about fishing on sardines and tuna and about the complete canning process, which includes litography and sealing the tins.
On the first floor, wood engravions of Manuel dos Santos Cabanas are exhibited. There is also a random collection of typewriters and a comptometer. No idea why this is here.
The cache:
The posted coordinates are from the statue of Marquês de Pombal. To find the cache, you need to answer the questions on the first waypoint.
Opening times for the cache are Monday till Saturday 9:30 - 17:00.