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All Portugal Leça da Palmeira Tidal Pools of Leça da Palmeira

Tidal Pools of Leça da Palmeira

An early work of the architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, these swimming pools blend into the beach.

Leça da Palmeira, Portugal

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Matthew Taub
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The pools at Leça da Palmeira.   Christian Gänshirt/CC BY-SA 4.0
The concrete blends into the rock.   _morgado/CC BY 2.0
The pools nestle comfortably into the surrounding natural rock formations.   Janekpfeifer/CC BY-SA 3.0
2022   alisavelieva / Atlas Obscura User
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Because the Atlantic Ocean isn’t enough, the beach in Leça da Palmeira, Portugal, boasts two saltwater swimming pools built to blend seamlessly into the natural landscape. Husky rock formations frame each pool—one for kids, one for adults—making them look like little oases at the ocean’s edge.

In fact, the pools are lined, like any other, with plain old drab concrete. While clearly visible, the concrete fades into its rocky surroundings like some desert mineral, emphasizing the fluid relationship between nature and artifice. 

The swimmers, too, become part of the setting. Visitors enter the complex on a walkway that obscures the passing traffic and even mutes the ocean’s waves. Then, after leaving the changing rooms, they look toward the pools that seem almost to tip into the vast Atlantic, like they're walking the world’s most peaceful plank.

Completed in 1966, the tidal pools brought major attention to a young Álvaro Siza Vieira, who is now one of Portugal’s most celebrated architects. Siza Vieira won architecture’s highest prize, the Pritzker, in 1992, and Portugal designated his tidal pools a National Monument in 2006.

Related Tags

Rocks Oceans Beaches Architectural Oddities Water Swimming Pools Monuments Architecture Geology

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Swimming is limited to summer months (June to September, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.), but the site is open year-round for architectural observance.

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Community Contributors

Added By

matthewtaub

Edited By

alisavelieva, rudimarnitz e86d1c9f

  • alisavelieva
  • rudimarnitz e86d1c9f

Published

July 5, 2018

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_pools_of_Le%C3%A7a_de_Palmeira
  • http://www.monumentos.pt/Site/APP_PagesUser/SIPA.aspx?id=20880
  • https://www.archdaily.com/796767/these-stunning-photos-commemorate-the-50th-anniversary-of-alvaro-sizas-pool-on-the-beach
  • http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/leca/index.htm
  • https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/beaches/leca-da-palmeira.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Siza_Vieira
  • https://www.timeout.com/porto/things-to-do/top-10-things-to-do-in-matosinhos
  • http://www.matosinhosport.com/gca/?id=440
Tidal Pools of Leça da Palmeira
Avenida da Liberdade, 4450-716
Leça da Palmeira
Portugal
41.192757, -8.707837
Get Directions

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