Sistelo, Peneda-Gerês, Portugal

From the “Little Portuguese Tibet” to the Corn Fortresses


"The Little Portuguese Tibet"
The long terraces below the village of Porta Cova that extend to Padrão.
figures
A resident of Alhal's brandy and two of his dogs, on a very foggy morning.
Maternity
Garrano colt and mare on a slope of Serra do Soajo facing Travanca and Mezio.
Canastros II
A resident of Lindoso uses a wheelbarrow to move cobs from one granary to another.
a great hermitage
The sanctuary of Nª Senhora da Peneda, below a huge rock in the homonymous mountain range.
Cycle-Turn
Cyclist walks along a bridge that follows the flow of the Vez.
Dª Julia
Resident of Alhal branda, a transhumant village above Sistelo.
in the green depths
The village of Padrão, tucked away in a jagged valley in the Serra de Soajo, just off the river Vez.
Soajo granaries
Espigueiros de Soajo, highlighted on an overhanging granite threshing floor.
A granite story
Lindoso castle walls, above the village's huge granary threshing floor.
Here is born the turn
Urzal, around the source of the Vez river, at the top of the Soajo mountains.
Sistelo Spikes
Espigueiros de Sistelo, on the edge of Rua Manuel António Gonçalves Roque, the only Viscount of Sistelo.
bad camouflage
Cachena cow detached from a dense fetal body at the top of Serra de Soajo.
canastros
Some of over fifty granaries in Lindoso.
the usual way
A resident of Alhal's brandy and two of his dogs, on a very foggy morning.
green shelter
One of several portelhos on the wet top of the Alhal brand, a summer village above Sistelo.
Lindoso
A panoramic view of Lindoso with its more than fifty granaries and, just above, the village's centuries-old castle.
stairs on the way to stairs
Access staircase to the sanctuary of Nª; Lady of the Peneda.
We leave the cliffs of Srª da Peneda, heading for Arcos de ValdeVez and the villages that an erroneous imaginary dubbed Little Portuguese Tibet. From these terraced villages, we pass by others famous for guarding, as golden and sacred treasures, the ears they harvest. Whimsical, the route reveals the resplendent nature and green fertility of these lands in Peneda-Gerês.

It is as deep as the time that excavated the Minho and Peneda-Gerês valleys, which we have meandered since the enchanted forest of Lamas de Mouro Got behind.

We stopped along the way to examine a colony of crimson carnivorous plants always hungry for unwary insects.

Distracted by the theme and the imposing scenery of the slopes, the towers of Nª Senhora da Pena appear like a mirage above the leafy vegetation.

We went around the temple. We stop in front of its facade of granite and white masonry and the gray cliff that rips through the summer sky.

Sanctuary of Nª Senhora da Peneda, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho, Portugal

The sanctuary of Nª; Senhora da Peneda, below a huge rock in the homonymous mountain range.

In midsummer, the Cascata da Peneda no longer flows there. The firmament remains as blue and immaculate as it would have been in 1220, when it is said that Nª Senhora das Neves appeared to a shepherdess in an atmosphere that was not in keeping with the epithet.

According to legend, the vision took place on the 5th of August. It wouldn't even be fresh.

In recent years, like Fátima, Srª da Peneda won her own fair. Those who visit her do it with faith and with time. Time to ascend the hundreds of steps and take refuge in the high and unobstructed nave, in a kind of Via Verde communicant for God.

Do so with time to peek at shops and stalls full of religious and profane items; to sit in the shade of the trees in the vast forecourt ahead and regain strength.

A group of friends in their fifties returns to the bottom of the Virtudes staircase, recently passed by Faith, Hope, Charity and Glory, the statues that adorn it. They are installed in the immediate trailer.

There, they serve cold beers and sparkling wines, snacks of bread with ham and even churros and snacks that consolidate the generosity of the meal.

sanctuary of Nª; Senhora da Peneda, PN Peneda-Gerês, Minho, Portugal

Access staircase to the sanctuary of Nª; Lady of Peneda

By Paths of Serra do Soajo

We return to the path. We aim south. The valley merges into many others. We stopped at a roadside viewpoint. From there, we can enjoy Srª da Peneda, already tiny. The complex outline of the surrounding hills, the cornered village of Tibo and the Lagoa dos Druidas, in a much rougher eminence of Spain (España).

We continue uphill, in the opposite direction to that familiar foreigner and into Serra do Soajo, soon along a rough dirt road. The villages disappear.

We were left on a plateau lined with living ferns and gorse. In this high desert, the inhabitants are the Cachaña cows, who can get muddy or pass through areas still toasted by last summer's fires.

Here is born the turn

Urzal, around the source of the Vez river, at the top of the Soajo mountain range

We cross the river Vez born a few meters ago and which irrigates an extensive heath there. We catch a glimpse of the first of the two wolf pools in the area, large walls in the shape of a V, with trapped vertices where, until around 1930, a battalion of shepherds cornered the beasts and exterminated them.

Pastoralism and transhumance have long been part of these domains. In such a way that they integrated the landscape.

To the left of the road and in the distance, three or four cachenas seem to contemplate the deep river valley Castro Laboreiro, highlighted against a heavenly wall of cumulus nimbus.

Cachena cow, Serra do Soajo, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho, Portugal

Cachena cow detached from a dense fetal density at the top of Serra de Soajo

Between us and the cows are mariolas, the piles of rocks that shepherds raised to navigate the mist. On the slope below the contemplative cachena lies an enigmatic castro of portelhos, the complementary huts in which they sheltered from the cold and bad weather.

We were counting on finding the Garrans. For some reason we don't know we don't see one. This is until we approach the south-western slope of the mountain, which is more exposed to clouds and humidity.

Garran colt and mare, Serra do Soajo, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho, Portugal

Garrano colt and mare on a slope of Serra do Soajo facing Travanca and Mezio.

Who knows if by refreshing the pasture there, it is from there that the horses concentrate, in territorial herds, some with newborn foals, flown over by flocks of vultures alert to possible misfortunes.

From Porta do Mezio to Arcos de Valdevez

We arrived at the foot of the mountains and Lagoas da Travanca. Luís Fernandes, the host of these stops, installs us in the local campsite and treats us to a snack of bread, ham and marmalade to which we give ourselves gratefully and without ceremony.

We pass by Porta do Mezio – a wide and sophisticated entrance to the Peneda PN.Gerês, from where we got off in time to spend the night in Arcos de Valdevez.

We wake up refreshed. We take a look at the view from the balcony of the Hotel Piemonte, right above the Vez river that flows there under one of the most emblematic historic bridges in the Minho region.

Village of Padrão, Serra do Soajo, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho, Portugal

The village of Padrão, tucked away in a jagged valley in the Serra de Soajo, just off the river Vez.

We return to Serra da Peneda, in search of the thalwegs where Sistelo and the neighboring villages settled. In need of cultivated land in this redoubt tucked between hillsides, the natives cut them into terraces.

They created so many and so followed that, unaware of the fact, they molded the lands in the image of other Asians – of the Vietnam, from China, from Indonesia, Philippines – where rice has been planted that way for millennia.

Terraces of Sistelo, Serra do Soajo, Arcos de Valdevez, Minho, Portugal

The long terraces below the village of Porta Cova that extend to Padrão

By any deviation from the parallel, the place was nicknamed "Tibet Portuguese", when the mystical scenarios of the roof of the world they are earthy and inhospitable, out of step with the verdant Sistelo that we soon have in mind.

At the top of the Foggy and Mysterious Brandas

A morning mist falling from the heights of the mountains. Instead of waiting for the sun to rise and expel it, we went up to Branda de Alhal, one of the many transhumant villages built by the natives to guarantee the best pastures for their cattle during the summer.

The fog is, there, as dense as possible. It only gives us silhouettes of some walls and houses and the sight of a ghostly cache that a resident hastily stuffs into the corral.

We explore the base of the sloping village. Without warning, a mournful figure, leaning on a staff, heralded by a shaggy podengo, descends a steep goat path and greets us.

Cláudia Fernandes – the guide of these places – introduces us in a way that distinguishes us from the crowds of tourists that now flock to the region, to the point of making the residents averse to being photographed and, as has already happened, “then do them mean things on Facebook” .

Resident of Branda de Alhal and Podengo, Serra do Soajo, Arcos de Valdevez, Minho, PortugalA resident of Alhal's brandy and two of his dogs, on a very foggy morning.

More at ease, Dª Júlia is ready for conversation. We ask you the grace of dogs. The answer amuses us. “My husband names them.

This one is Luena. There's a Milú, look… the others aren't even sure anymore.” As we found out, the husband was inspired by the TV soap operas that isolation and the cold and windy nights forced on them for the evening.

We enter a walled path that enters a dismal forest of huge exogenous pine trees. On the other side, we find a nucleus of mossy portelhos, dispersed in the fetal mist-soaked, some more preserved than others.

Portelho, Alhal brand, Arcos de Valdevez, Minho, Portugal

One of several portelhos on the wet top of the Alhal brand, a summer village above Sistelo.

We enjoyed them for a good twenty minutes. When the fog clears, we return to the jeep and go down to a panoramic half height of the mountain range.

Sistelo, Porta Cova and Standard - the "Portuguese Tibet"

Perched on rocks, surrounded by gorse, we enjoy the terraces between the villages of Porta Cova and Padrão. Stunning, the listed panorama keeps us entertained for another half hour.

After which we return to the asphalt and point to the village that got the credit, the now all-too-notorious Sistelo.

Sistelo granaries, Arcos de Valdevez, Minho, Portugal

Espigueiros de Sistelo, on the edge of Rua Manuel António Gonçalves Roque, the only Viscount of Sistelo

The long-declining population of the medieval village in which the Order of Malta he will have held property and influence.

Today, as a result of the triumph in the “Villages” category of the “7 Wonders of Portugal", some residents thrive on visitors. Others complain about the excess of people that invades the village, which robs it of its tranquility and genuineness.

We take a look at the old parish church and the granaries lined up along the main street. It was named in honor of Manuel António Gonçalves Roque (1834 – 1855), the first and only Viscount of Sistelo, who had emigrated from an early age to Brazil where he made the fortune he invested in the motherland – in the case of his Castle – and in Brazilian charities and Portuguese.

With the end of the morning, more tours of foreigners, scout groups, restless outsiders in general flock in. We had a lot to explore so the time seems ideal to return to Arcos de Valdevez.

By land of granaries: Soajo

We say goodbye to Claudia. We travel 20km to the east and come across Soajo. Soajo owns her own core of 24 granaries.

Blessed by crosses, of course, arranged on a wide community threshing floor installed on a granite slab, overlooking the cultivated fields and the road that crosses the village there.

Espigueiros of Soajo, Minho, Portugal

Soajo granaries, highlighted on a granite threshing floor above

The cafe in front is on the pine cone. Liven up customers with cold beer and popular music.

Rosinha and her “package” invite you to dance. Even foreign tourists focused on deciphering the intriguing agricultural monument, built over two centuries ago, but which the parish's peasants continue to fill with precious cobs.

Soajo's granaries would not be the last on our path. We continue to the east, side and side with the river Lima which, once again on the border with Spain, leads us to the Lindoso dam.

We crossed it by the crest of the dam. A few meanders of asphalt later, we glimpse the village's castle tower.

Also for Terras de Espigueiros: Lindoso

From the animation inside, we can infer that some private party is taking place there. We rounded the walls. Sooner than we expected, we came face to face with the local threshing floor and its fifty or so canastros, by far, the largest set of Portugal.

Granaries of Lindoso, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho Portugal

A panoramic view of Lindoso with its more than fifty granaries and, just above, the village's centuries-old castle

A lady repeats back and forth at the command of a wheelbarrow. Sometimes, it's hard for us to contain our curiosity.

We ask you to reveal to us what to do. “Look, I'm moving the cobs from one granary to another. This fate fell on me!" answer us with a shrug.

Any rule or convenience of the threshing floor would have dictated such punishment, in absolute dissonance with the routs that crept around: the one confined to the castle.

Resident among granaries of Lindoso, PN Peneda Gerês, Minho, Portugal

A resident of Lindoso uses a wheelbarrow to move cobs from one granary to another.

At the same time, an emigrants' wedding, with the couples and their families and friends in outfits and dresses that were too glossy for the picturesque rural setting in which Lindoso welcomed them.

A silver crescent takes hold of the sky to the west of the Serra Amarela, while the soundtrack distorted by the granite of the fortress enlivened the late afternoon.

Lindoso Castle, Minho, Portugal

Lindoso castle walls, above the village's huge granary threshing floor.

Despite being built in the distant reign of Alfonso III and being situated in a strategic border position, the village's castle was never the scene of a major battle.

Notwithstanding the apparatus of the celebrations, Lindoso would end the day in the peace of bringing home that Sistelo is so eager to recover.

 

The authors would like to thank the following entities for their support in carrying out this report:

NATURE4 -  Book your activities at PN PENEDA-GERÊS at www.nature4.pt 

PORT AND NORTH TOURISM ENTITY www.portoenorte.pt

Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
São Miguel (Azores), Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island

It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.
Rhinoceros, PN Kaziranga, Assam, India
Safari
PN Kaziranga, India

The Indian Monoceros Stronghold

Situated in the state of Assam, south of the great Brahmaputra river, PN Kaziranga occupies a vast area of ​​alluvial swamp. Two-thirds of the rhinocerus unicornis around the world, there are around 100 tigers, 1200 elephants and many other animals. Pressured by human proximity and the inevitable poaching, this precious park has not been able to protect itself from the hyperbolic floods of the monsoons and from some controversies.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Architecture & Design
Castles and Fortresses

A Defending World: Castles and Fortresses that Resist

Under threat from enemies from the end of time, the leaders of villages and nations built castles and fortresses. All over the place, military monuments like these continue to resist.
Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Adventure
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
Tiredness in shades of green
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
Christmas scene, Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Cities
Shillong, India

A Christmas Selfiestan at an India Christian Stronghold

December arrives. With a largely Christian population, the state of Meghalaya synchronizes its Nativity with that of the West and clashes with the overcrowded Hindu and Muslim subcontinent. Shillong, the capital, shines with faith, happiness, jingle bells and bright lighting. To dazzle Indian holidaymakers from other parts and creeds.
young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Meal
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Culture
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
jet lag avoid flight, jetlag, turbulence
Traveling
Jet Lag (Part 1)

Avoid Post-Flight Turbulence

When we fly across more than 3 time zones, the internal clock that regulates our body gets confused. The most we can do is alleviate the discomfort we feel until it gets right again.
Drums and Tattoos
Ethnic
Tahiti, French Polynesia

Tahiti Beyond the Cliché

Neighbors Bora Bora and Maupiti have superior scenery but Tahiti has long been known as paradise and there is more life on the largest and most populous island of French Polynesia, its ancient cultural heart.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Boat on the Yellow River, Gansu, China
History
Bingling Yes, China

The Canyon of a Thousand Buddhas

For more than a millennium and at least seven dynasties, Chinese devotees have extolled their religious belief with the legacy of sculpture in a remote strait of the Yellow River. If you disembark in the Canyon of Thousand Buddhas, you may not find all the sculptures, but you will find a stunning Buddhist shrine.
Zanzibar, African islands, spices, Tanzania, dhow
Islands
Zanzibar, Tanzania

The African Spice Islands

Vasco da Gama opened the Indian Ocean to the Portuguese empire. In the XNUMXth century, the Zanzibar archipelago became the largest producer of cloves and the available spices diversified, as did the people who disputed them.
Correspondence verification
Winter White
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Literature
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Nature
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Principe Island, São Tomé and Principe
Natural Parks
Príncipe, São Tomé and Principe

Journey to the Noble Retreat of Príncipe Island

150 km of solitude north of the matriarch São Tomé, the island of Príncipe rises from the deep Atlantic against an abrupt and volcanic mountain-covered jungle setting. Long enclosed in its sweeping tropical nature and a contained but moving Luso-colonial past, this small African island still houses more stories to tell than visitors to listen to.
Boat and helmsman, Cayo Los Pájaros, Los Haitises, Dominican Republic
UNESCO World Heritage
Samaná PeninsulaLos Haitises National Park Dominican Republic

From the Samaná Peninsula to the Dominican Haitises

In the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic, where Caribbean nature still triumphs, we face an Atlantic much more vigorous than expected in these parts. There we ride on a communal basis to the famous Limón waterfall, cross the bay of Samaná and penetrate the remote and exuberant “land of the mountains” that encloses it.
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, Bollywood Scenery, Heartthrob's Eye
Characters
Ooty, India

In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting

The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.
Sesimbra, Vila, Portugal, View from the top
Beaches
Sesimbra, Portugal

A Village Touched by Midas

It's not just Praia da California and Praia do Ouro that close it to the south. Sheltered from the furies of the West Atlantic, gifted with other immaculate coves and endowed with centuries-old fortifications, Sesimbra is today a precious fishing and bathing haven.
Pilgrims at the top, Mount Sinai, Egypt
Religion
Mount Sinai, Egypt

Strength in the Legs, Faith in God

Moses received the Ten Commandments on the summit of Mount Sinai and revealed them to the people of Israel. Today, hundreds of pilgrims climb, every night, the 4000 steps of that painful but mystical ascent.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
cowboys oceania, rodeo, el caballo, perth, australia
Society
Perth, Australia

The Oceania Cowboys

Texas is on the other side of the world, but there is no shortage of cowboys in the country of koalas and kangaroos. Outback rodeos recreate the original version and 8 seconds lasts no less in the Australian Western.
Saksun, Faroe Islands, Streymoy, warning
Daily life
Saksun, StreymoyFaroe Islands

The Faroese Village That Doesn't Want to be Disneyland

Saksun is one of several stunning small villages in the Faroe Islands that more and more outsiders visit. It is distinguished by the aversion to tourists of its main rural owner, author of repeated antipathies and attacks against the invaders of his land.
Cape cross seal colony, cape cross seals, Namibia
Wildlife
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
PT EN ES FR DE IT