LOCALIZATION

The Termas do Vimeiro are located in the northern part of the Torres Vedras municipality. The sources appeared on the left margin of the Alcabrichel River in the village of Maceira. The village which named the thermal springs belongs to the municipality of Lourinhã.

In the beginning of the 19th century there existed two baths, one belonging to a particular and the other belonging to the Convent of Penafirme. The water was analysed for the first time by Agostinho Vicente Lourenço in 1867. The first official analysis was made later by Charles Lepierre.

In 1895 the waters were inspected for concession reasons. The license charter was emitted on January 30th 1896 for unlimited time after its owner, José Pedro Cardoso, manifested interest, turning the exploitation of the water legal.

At that time the thermal establishment was composed by four buildings. The first one had a spacious waiting room and two baths with rectangular tubs. The walls were formed by calcareous plates from nearby quarries. A little bit lower were two small houses also with bath tubs.

The water of the springs is greatly mineralized, colourless and odourless but with a great saline taste. They were classified as sodium chloride on January 1921. That year the Empresa das Águas do Vimeiro, S.A. demolished the building to build a new thermal centre; nevertheless it was only started twenty years later.