King Dinis also played his part, but it was King Afonso III (his father) who ordered for the pine grove to be planted. ‘The Farmer King’ followed in his predecessor’s footsteps and continued the planting. Leiria’s Pine Grove was built in order to dry the swamps of the area and establish the great dunes, which painted the landscape with a golden colour. Even more so, the Pine Grove was not planted in order to have wood for building the ships. The favoured wood was oak and not pine. Still, the King’s Pine Grove played a part in the Discoveries: it provided flammable and waterproof material from the pine tree resin, which was used to seal the ship hulls.
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