Between “Lombadinha” (Gondoriz) and “Oucias” (Carralcova), on the west slope of the mountain set of the Peneda and Soajo’s hills, it is worth following a pedestrian small route (PR) with the pedestrians’ aim join to the experience of the mountains' communities still present in the territory of Valdevez.
At daybreak, the Lombadinha’s place involves itself in an uproar characteristic of mountain communities; is the aggregation of the cattle and departure of the herds. Hundreds of animals form a beautiful gleeful wave of small creatures of soft colours, perfectly integrated into the landscape that, from the inhospitable mountain, tread every inch of land, eager for their pastures. A rough grazing and its duration depends on the weather, however, they return to the place when the sun sets beyond the “Couto de Pena”, is a sure.
Starting at the S. Lourenço chapel, the trail begins by traversing part of an old way, which once represented the only link of Lombadinha with the parish’s council and the Arcos de Valdevez’s village. By this route, inserted in a dense grove, which develops along the Ribeira de Porto Avelar’s valley, circulated the people, the goods and the ideas, even the dead to their last resting place. Legends, stories and a number of adventures, associated with travel on this track, are part of the local collective imagination.
After the stream’s crossing and still under the same oak-grove, we reached the Oucias’s place, where highlight a set of fields near the place and the terracing towards the waterline, previously referred to. Nearby, rises a small nucleus of dryland fields which constitute Branda de Azevedo, this of culture, and presents a high landscape coherence.
Along the way the heritage’s diversity is vast, we traverse and observe the old sidewalks, the bridges, the fillies, the granite structures with tile coverage, the stem and the false dome, and an exact irrigation system. At any time the contact with a shepherd and its flock is a strong possibility, and if it happens, do not waste the opportunity to know in detail the most important and the oldest community work, even today, in activity in these mountain communities.
Points of Interest:
Lombadinha Rural Community;
Through the Porto Avelar’s river between fillies;
Oucias Rural Community;
Azevedo Branda;
Typology: Small Route
Length: 7, 1 km
Duration (hours – approximate): 4h00
Type of tread: sidewalks or carter’s ways
Degree of difficulty: Easy
Starting point: Lombadinha – Gondoriz’s village
Arrival: Lombadinha – Gondoriz’s village
Location: Arcos de Valdevez
At daybreak, the Lombadinha’s place involves itself in an uproar characteristic of mountain communities; is the aggregation of the cattle and departure of the herds. Hundreds of animals form a beautiful gleeful wave of small creatures of soft colours, perfectly integrated into the landscape that, from the inhospitable mountain, tread every inch of land, eager for their pastures. A rough grazing and its duration depends on the weather, however, they return to the place when the sun sets beyond the “Couto de Pena”, is a sure.
Starting at the S. Lourenço chapel, the trail begins by traversing part of an old way, which once represented the only link of Lombadinha with the parish’s council and the Arcos de Valdevez’s village. By this route, inserted in a dense grove, which develops along the Ribeira de Porto Avelar’s valley, circulated the people, the goods and the ideas, even the dead to their last resting place. Legends, stories and a number of adventures, associated with travel on this track, are part of the local collective imagination.
After the stream’s crossing and still under the same oak-grove, we reached the Oucias’s place, where highlight a set of fields near the place and the terracing towards the waterline, previously referred to. Nearby, rises a small nucleus of dryland fields which constitute Branda de Azevedo, this of culture, and presents a high landscape coherence.
Along the way the heritage’s diversity is vast, we traverse and observe the old sidewalks, the bridges, the fillies, the granite structures with tile coverage, the stem and the false dome, and an exact irrigation system. At any time the contact with a shepherd and its flock is a strong possibility, and if it happens, do not waste the opportunity to know in detail the most important and the oldest community work, even today, in activity in these mountain communities.
Points of Interest:
Lombadinha Rural Community;
Through the Porto Avelar’s river between fillies;
Oucias Rural Community;
Azevedo Branda;
Typology: Small Route
Length: 7, 1 km
Duration (hours – approximate): 4h00
Type of tread: sidewalks or carter’s ways
Degree of difficulty: Easy
Starting point: Lombadinha – Gondoriz’s village
Arrival: Lombadinha – Gondoriz’s village
Location: Arcos de Valdevez
