King Mills

Set windmills, built in the reign of D. Dinis, first king that in our country, especially in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho, He encouraged and developed the milling industry. Until then it was almost exclusively performed by man's effort or animal, crushing the cereal first between two stones and then using the pestle and mortar.

The invention of watermills (azenhas) He opened a new era in grinding, activity performed before the mill-to-arms. These Community mills belonged to the King and declared that half of their income would be for the Crown. Later they had to pay the King only a symbolic tax.

The millstones of mills began to appear in the early years of the Monarchy, knowing that in July 1157, being Gualdim Fathers "absolute master of the Temple, there was a royal grant that this Master and his Order was made eight mills in Ribeira Alviela ".

In the Torre do Tombo Archive for many documents on mills and Dr. Sousa Viterbo, in Portuguese Archaeologist 1896, specifies and refers to several mills, their licenses and operating rules.

King Mills, welcomes a nice recreation area with conditions for healthy leisure time and enjoyment of a natural landscape of great beauty that is provided to whom there moves.

Source: (Cabeceiras de Basto, 2016)