This 738 marker indicates the southern terminus of the N2 road, down at the corner where the Dominos is. The road was created by an assemblance of existing roads to link communities from northern to southern Portugal along an inland corridor. Some sections of the route were in use during antiquity. Construction began soon after the conclusion of World War Two during the Salazar administration. The construction of a first national roadway to follow an inland route parallel to the coastline was likely chosen to help integrate the inland areas into a greater, more industrialized economy.
The N2 has been sold to Americans as Portugal’s version of Route 66. There is no analogy here because the mere presence of 66 brought about many of its famous attractions. On the other hand, the long-established communities on the N2 were already in place along the existing pathways long before the mid-twentieth century. My hypothesis is that the road did not influence the local cultures nearly to the degree of the influence of Route 66.
The economical routing of the N2 was eventually obsoleted by superhighways, fast train, and air travel. The N2 that has been bequeathed to the twenty-first century is a well-made and lightly used road through some of the neighborhoods of the earlier culture. N2 can be driven in eleven hours, but that’s a reliable indicator of insanity when of course it should be savored, stretched out like good baking dough to days, weeks, or even months.
I am looking into a southern transit of the N2 with my Shmoopie, and Bob and Valerie. I am also eager to see a handful of places off the route.
Commenti