the lezírias company was founded in 1836 when the portuguese crown sold properties located near the capital city, lisbon. it comprised 48,000 hectares of land located between the tagus and sado rivers. this property was reduced to less than half by global crises such as the great depression and the world wars, as well as local climatic, seismic catastrophes and political turmoil which led to extensive land transaction. nevertheless, the company was an important infrastructure for portuguese agriculture throughout history, its modernity and technological developments in animal and vegetable farming as in forestry were always noted in the country. after 138 years, the lezírias company was nationalized, hence returning to public ownership status. the enterprise's economic sustainability and the policy to prevent urbanization from spreading there are the main tasks of its current administrations.