Piódão - Portugal

© Ricardo Pacheco (photo) / Cristina Duarte Editores

unused, offered by Andreia Cruz

A winter view of the lovely village of Piódão.

"The village of Piódão, which was listed as a National Heritage Site in 1978 and included in the Historic Villages of Portugal Recovery Programme in 1994, is the only thing that seems not to change with time. The layout of its houses on a sheltered hillside is typical of an irregular medieval mountain settlement, which certainly grew with the increase of its population and spread out like an amphitheatre, with its cobblestone streets. In the middle of the village runs an irrigation channel, with its water drawn by the pull of gravity.

An exploration of this place is nothing less than a lesson in the ways of life of yore, since the majority of the houses retain their old structure. These consist of two stories, with the ground floor used as a storage room for agricultural implements and tools, cereal bins and salting-tubs where pork was kept and conserved. On the first floor is the residence itself, with little light and sparse furniture (you can see the models at the museum). The interior is built in dark chestnut wood, and the roof is supported by beams covered in schist (the region’s prevailing material)." In: Portugal Daily View