7 Things You’ll Discover In Peneda-Gerês National Park

Portugal may only have one national park but the Peneda-Gerês is so vast and diverse that it contains everything you could expect from a wild, mountainous landscape and more besides.

Local communities have been living in this beautiful but challenging territory for centuries, finding practical ways to manage the land and their livestock for what was, until relatively recently, almost completely self-sufficient living. Although modern technology and improved road networks have reduced the isolation of these rural villages, you can still see evidence of long-held traditions and practices.

 

Authentic picturesque mountain villages

With granite cottages and barns built hundreds of years ago, stone paths rutted from the wheels of thousands of ox cart journeys to and from the water mills, community bread ovens and laundry tanks, not to mention the granite grain stores (see below), these timeless villages retain much of their old world charm. There are plenty of picturesque villages scattered throughout the mountain ranges, such as Lindoso, Pitões das Júnias and Germil.

Take a look on our best seller walking holiday in the Peneda-Gerês National Park.

 

Granite grain stores

 

Every mountain village has grain stores and, in some villages such as Soajo and Lindoso, these stone structures are clustered around a flattish stone area that is used for threshing and drying crops before storage. Many of these granite constructions, with ventilation slats in the sides and slanted roofs, have the date carved into the lintel and a cross on top. This cross serves a dual purpose. Not only does it invite divine protection for the contents, it also makes the grain store resemble a tomb, thus deterring potential thieves.

Thieves of the rodent variety are another potential threat, but as crafty as mice and rats can be, they can’t defy gravity. Take a closer look at the supporting legs of the grain stores and you’ll see that they are capped with a flat stone that overhangs the pillar. This simple but highly effective feature stops these pests from stealing the precious corn.

 

Wolf traps

Wolves used to present serious problems for the mountain-folk. They could ill afford to lose their livestock to hungry predators, so they devised ingenious ways of capturing wolves, called fojos de lobo. There are two main types of wolf trap in Peneda-Gerês. One relied upon the villagers using noise and tools to drive a wolf between funnel-shaped walls into a pit. The other used live bait, usually a goat, to lure the wolf into a pit, which was then capped with heavy stones to prevent it from escaping. Take a look at our Peneda-Gerês Mountain Village and Wolf Trap Hiking Trail.

Wolves are now an endangered species and these traditional traps are no longer used, but if you’re very lucky, you might see evidence of wild wolves in the Peneda-Geres. They have learned to stay well away from humans, so it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll see one!

 

Summer and winter settlements

Among the things to discover in Peneda-Gerês are the winter and summer settlements that were used by the local population for centuries as a way of managing the climate and its effect on their lifestyles.

During the colder months of the year people lived at lower levels in their village homes, where nowadays they tend to stay all year round. Once the snows melted and the warmer weather arrived, whole villages would cut their necessities and livestock up the mountains to their summer settlements, called brandas. From these simple dwellings, they would sow wheat, cultivate corn and allow their livestock to graze freely on fresh grass.

Some villages still carry on the tradition of transhumance but it is now only the animals that relocate to higher altitudes. The brandas are mostly used for summer holiday lets.

 

Wild Garrano horses

 

The dark brown or chestnut horses that live in the Peneda-Gerês mountains are an ancient breed that closely resemble those found in Paleolithic cave paintings. If you go on a hike in the wilderness, you may encounter some of these semi-wild horses.

Before the days of tractors and trucks, these hardy horses were often used as pack horses and for light farm work. These days, there is little need for them and they have become an endangered species.

 

Long-horned Cachena cows

 

If you venture into the Peneda-Geres, you will inevitably encounter some Cachena cows grazing at the side of the road or footpath. These copper coloured cows may look scary, thanks to their long curly horns, but as long as you don’t spook them, they are docile.

The villagers turn them loose to graze freely each day and they calmly make their way home to their barns at the end of the afternoon, filling the countryside with the soft clanging of their bells.

If you’re a steak-lover, it’s hard to beat the succulent, tasty meat from these free-range grass-fed cows.

 

Terraced hillsides

 

As you might imagine, steep slopes are not especially conducive to cultivating crops. Nevertheless, the determined mountain folk sets about shaping the landscape to make their lives a little easier by building layers of small terraced plots around their villages.

Though their purpose is practical, these terraces also add to the attractiveness of the villages. Sistelo, in the foothills of the Peneda Mountains, is a particularly splendid example, with layers of terraced fields flowing downhill from a cluster of granite buildings.

 

Want to know more about Portugal’s National Park? Read also WALKING IN PENEDA-GERES NATIONAL PARK.

 

Make an Enquiry