Pillory

Around 1514, when King Manuel granted a privilege charter to the village of Pederneira, was erected in the main square, currently Bastião Fernandes Square, a pillory in Manueline style.

Pederneira preserved the municipal status until 1855, when it was annexed to the municipality of Alcobaça because of its demographic decline due to the recent development of the cosmopolitan beach of Nazareth.

In 1876, the primitive pillory was removed by the orders of Alcobaça. Later, in 1886, a fossilized tree trunk was transported to Bastião Fernandes Square from the old cemetery, replacing the old pillory that had been destroyed, appealing to an autonomy feeling.

It is an interesting silica monolithic, corresponding to a fragment of a fossilized tree trunk, and commonly known as Pederneira, being a respectable exemplar from the late-Jurassic period with nearly 150 million years, so it is one of the oldest classified natural monuments in Portugal. It is Public Interest Monument since 1933, for its cultural and historical value.