21/05/2022
The Legend of a hidden treasure
In 1806, Portugal was ruled by the House of Braganza. The regent, Prince John refused Napoleon’s request to take part in the commercial blockade of England.
When, on 12 August, Napoleon and King Charles IV of Spain asked Prince John that Portugal declared war on England, he refused once more. This caused Napoleon to send his trusted general, Junot, to command the invasion of Portugal, which began on 17 November 1807. Junot’s troops entered Portugal by Segura, in Beira Baixa and eventually captured the city of Lisbon on the 30th of the same month.
In the first days of December, a large French military contingent of infantry weaponry arrived at Peniche, and took hold in its stronghold. So far, Junot had gathered a considerable b***y in his military campaign in Portugal. As soon as he learned that the British troops, led by Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) were on their way to Portugal and that would probably arrive north of Peniche in August 1808, he immediately thought of hiding his treasure in the most inaccessible place that he could think of: the Ilha das Pombas, a small island situated in front of the island of Baleal.
Not only that, Junot built a small fortress on the edge of Baleal Island, oriented to the Ilha das Pombas, which ruins are still observable, that was intended to protect the hidden treasure on the island up front.
Reportedly, to this day, the treasure of Junot, french napoleonic general, is yet to be discovered.
