Abandoned mines with natural beauty of the blue lagoon - stock photo

They are one of Portugal's best kept secrets, one of the country's hidden wonders. In Queiriga, Vila Nova de Paiva, district of Viseu, some old mines hide incredible caves with a huge blue lagoon, bathed in sunlight. The space was once arranged and open for visits, but it was vandalized and remained so: accessible to everyone but dangerous, with visits advised against and technically prohibited. The Queiriga mines, also known as the Lagares mines, were the target of exploration at the beginning of the last century, having been deactivated for this purpose for decades. Here, tungsten and tin oxide were mainly extracted, and their activity was responsible for boosting the region, which stagnated when the extraction ended. The natural beauty of the caves is practically unique: there are open spaces, with the sun shining in, real skylights supported by huge natural columns, helped by mining engineering. The small caves are separated by these columns. The water in the largest lagoon is really blue and the color becomes even more intense when the sun shines directly on it, usually around lunchtime. Access is not incredibly difficult but it can be dangerous, due to areas of potential slippage and above all the total lack of surveillance and appropriate structures for this purpose. And the most incredible thing is that all of this already existed there.