Visitor's guide
Aigra Velha
Heritage
All the schist-rock built houses, whether they are in Comareira, Aigra Nova, Aigra Velha or Pena, obey to construction rules so that they resist to the elements and to time. Set out in visibly concentrated batches, they include two floors: the first floor and the ground floor, usually on the ground level. The ground floor would shelter cattle. However there came exceptions to this rule and next to each settlement some groups of pig-sties or pens. Each one of those was the property of a house of the community, conforming the wealth and power of the owner, measured in the number of cattle they owned.
The second floor also took the role of a shop, a storage area, where the cereal, olive-oil po, the salter with the pork meat, the agricultural tools, and sometimes they even had a small wine cellar with barrels where wine was made.
Throughout the Góis council one can still see today small water mills, built of schist rock and other rocks available in the reguin. Being small, they worked using a horizontal wheel whose hydraulic energy came from the force of a water jet hitting the wheel directly.
Nature
These villages belong to the mountainous complex of the Lousă mountain range. The mountain range stands out because of its rather irregular configuration where mountain ranges, mountains and valleys are dominant, fitting in with one another. These typologies, associated to the region’s climate, permitted the creation of a flaura and fauna unique to this region.
The cliffs of Góis, ex-libris of the region stand out from the natural heritage of the region, as well as the forrest park of Oitava, habitat of rare birds and mamals, like deers and roebucks, that one can hardly find in other parts of the country.
History
The first known settlements in the council of Góis date from the Neolithic or First Bronze period, as the various remains and archaeological finds testify (metal and stone axes, decorating objects, coins, rupestrian art), found to the north of this territory.
The origin of these nuclei has been verified during the iron period, with the formation of small settlements on the slopes and the peeks of the hills, some of them having later been abandoned during the Middle Ages.
To overcome the difficulty of crossing the region, it is said that a “roman” or “medieval” road existed, whose trajectory was from Aigra Velha and Pena, being part of the mercantile route that spread from Lisbon to the north, having as exchange products to the north salt, spices and fabric. This way, Aigra Velha played an active part in the ritual continuation of this circuit, seeing its economy traditionaly linked to agriculture evolve.
Once one climbs to Aigra Nova, one can still find some buildings integrated in the village that shows a historic interest through the character of its construction as well as by the amount of destruction, and that marks the beginning of the Aigra Velha community.
Food
Regarding the council of Góis, villages of: Aigra Nova, Aigra Velha, Comareira and Pena, documents tell us that it was: plentiful of bread, wine, orange, and produced fruits full of flavour, and in the charter ceded by Gonçalo Vasques one can find references of the existance of: bread, game, vineyards, wine, lamb, goats, oxen, chicken, pigs, cows, mills and savings.
Pork meat cooked in a pot
Ingredients: Pork meat, lard, garlic, olive oil, paprika, bay leaf, salt, wine, a soup spoon of brandy.
In a saucepan put the diced pork meat seasoned with garlic, olive oil, paprika, bay leaf (without the wooden part at the end of the leaves), salt, wine. Cover the meat with lard and put it in the pre-heated wood oven. Take it when it’s still hot and put the pork with the lard in the pot and store it for a year. You should cut and fry a slice of this, with its fat, as you need it.
You can add scrambled eggs with chouriço on top. It’s served on top of corn bread and you should accompany it with wine, rarely so with potatoes.
Recipe ceded by Mr. André Neves Claro
Discover more recipes of this village in the Gastronomical Map of the Aldeias de Xisto
Curiosities
The feast of Sto. António da Neve became the space and time to solve conflicts between neighbours in a village, or even in different villages. Independently of the cause of the problem, and even if during the year these two had solved their problem, the problem would still be discussed in this feast and all men present would intervene so that the problem would be resolved.
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