VILLAGES

Comareira

lousã mountain
Lousã MountainComareira
Comareira
comareira, góis
The smallest and so original. If you want to watch the world quietly from a different angle, just sit on the bench at the entrance to the village.

If you want to watch the world quietly from a different angle, just sit on the bench at the entrance to the village. Sometimes we need a place like that. Where we can turn off from the world and just be ourselves. We accept the company of those who do not know us and kindly allow us to become self-absorbed. But who, with a final nod of greeting, seem to say “If you need anything, we are here”. And this little gesture is enough for us to feel that we are not alone.

We can enjoy the company of a bench, which helps us to see the world from a different angle. Or it may be the cockerel that wakes us to a new sun that appears on our horizon. Here it can be so.

Comareira is the smallest village in the network. It forms part of the four Schist Villages of Góis municipality and is embraced by the influence created around the Schist Traditions Ecomuseum. The village consists of a small cluster of buildings housing people and domestic livestock. Sun-drenched all day long, Comareira is composed of houses nestling together, overlooking a landscape that stretches out of sight. The locals take pride in saying that it is an excellent base for visitors to the Schist Villages who are interested in the region’s river beaches or Oitava Forest Park.

  • territory

    On the northern slope of the Lousã Mountain, where the terrain is deeply incised by small watercourses, Comareira was founded in a sunny position where a gentle slope and irrigation water diverted here allowed subsistence agriculture to develop on the surrounding terraces or cômoros, from which the village takes its name.

  • nature

    Comareira is included in the Lousã Mountain Site of Community Importance, of the Natura 2000 Network. The topography of the area is highly accidented, characterised by mountains, hills and very deep valleys. This landscape, together with its individual microclimate, has permitted the emergence of the region’s unique fauna and flora. The very rich natural heritage surrounding these villages includes in particular the Penedos de Góis and Oitava Forest Park, the habitat of endangered birds and mammals such as red deer and roe deer, which are rarely found elsewhere in Portugal.

  • history and stories

    The first forms of settlement that are known of in Góis municipality date from the Neolithic or Bronze I period, as proved by the many archaeological remains and finds found to the north of this area. The origin of these villages dates from the Iron Age with the founding of small settlements on the slopes and tops of hills, some of them subsequently abandoned during the Middle Ages.

    The origin of these villages dates from the Iron Age with the founding of small settlements on the slopes and tops of hills, some of them subsequently abandoned during the Middle Ages.
    To overcome the difficulty of crossing the region, it is said that there was probably a roman or medieval road whose course would have passed through Aigra Velha and Pena, forming part of the trade route from Lisbon to the north, transporting goods such as salt, spices and cloth. Aigra Velha thus played an active role in this customary trade, thereby diversifying its economy that was traditionally linked to agriculture and pastoralism.

    Breasting the rise to Aigra Nova we find a block of buildings situated in the village which appears relatively ancient to judge by the nature of their construction and degree of dilapidation, and which marks the start of the community of Aigra Velha.

    Origin of the name
    It very probably derives from cômoro, combro or cômbaro – meaning a small terrace of land, like those surrounding the village – from which evolved combareira, a term that still echoes today in the memories of the inhabitants, and which finally evolved into Comareira.

  • patrimony

    The village consists of a small cluster of buildings housing people and domestic livestock. Schist and quartzite are the predominant building materials, although the facades of some buildings are coated with a characteristic roughcast rendering in traditional colours.

    All the houses built from schist blocks are built to resist the weather and the passage of time. Arranged in tight clusters, they have two floors: the upper, or first, floor and the ground floor, which would normally house the livestock. However, there are exceptions to this rule and several groups of animal pens were built on the outskirts of each village. In each case one or more of these buildings belonged to the respective house in the community, according to the owner’s property and wealth in head of cattle. The second floor also acted as a storage area where cereals, earthenware jars filled with olive oil, salting boxes for pork and farming implements would be stored. They sometimes even had a small wine cellar with barrels and vats for making wine.

  • products
    • Horticultural produce
    • Eggs
    • Kid Goat
    • Cheese
  • how to arrive

    De Norte e de Sul
    Na A1 sair em Coimbra. Tome a N17 e saia na N342 no sentido da Lousã. Continue em direcção a Góis até encontrar as placas indicativas (à direita) das quatro Aldeias do Xisto.

    De Espanha (pela A25)
    Na A23 sair em direcção a Fundão-Sul. No Fundão seguir pela N238 em direcção a Silavres. Siga em frente até ao Orvalho. Aí tome a direcção de Pampilhosa da Serra. Apanhe a N2 no sentido de Góis. Continue pela N342 até encontrar (à esquerda) as placas indicativas das quatro Aldeias do Xisto.

  • Patron saint
    santo antónio da neve
  • Ex-libris
    lookout bench

explore

lodging
Casa do Caminheiro Hostel
Casa do Caminheiro Hostel
Talasnal
lodging
Casas do Sinhel
Casas do Sinhel
Relva da Mó
associations
Lousitânea - Serra da Lousã League of Friends
Lousitânea - Serra da Lousã League of Friends
Aigra Nova, Góis
village
Aigra Nova
Aigra Nova
village
Aigra Velha
Aigra Velha
village
Pena
Pena
tour
Panoramic Road: Pena - Fajão
Panoramic Road: Pena - Fajão
tour
PR 9 - Baile Trail
PR 9 - Baile Trail
institutional
Junta de Freguesia de Góis
Junta de Freguesia de Góis
Góis
institutional
Câmara Municipal de Góis
Câmara Municipal de Góis
Góis
associations
Arts and Crafts School
Arts and Crafts School
Cerdeira, Lousã
village
Cerdeira
Cerdeira
local products
Planta do Xisto
Planta do Xisto
Cerdeira
associations
ASPA Slackline
ASPA Slackline
associations
ACMC - Associação de Convívio e Melhoramentos do Candal
ACMC - Associação de Convívio e Melhoramentos do Candal
Candal
village
Candal
Candal
village
Talasnal
Talasnal
tour
"PR3 LSA - Lousã Schist Walking Trail  - Levada Route"
"PR3 LSA - Lousã Schist Walking Trail - Levada Route"
tour
PR 2 LSA - Lousã Schist Trails 2 - Schist Villages Route
PR 2 LSA - Lousã Schist Trails 2 - Schist Villages Route
Casa Princesa Peralta
heritage
Lousã Castle
Lousã Castle
associations
Activar - Association for Cooperation in Lousã
Activar - Association for Cooperation in Lousã
Lousã
associations
Montanha Club
Montanha Club
Lousã
associations
ARCIL - Associação para Recuperação de Cidadãos Inadaptados da Lousã
ARCIL - Associação para Recuperação de Cidadãos Inadaptados da Lousã
Lousã
institutional
Junta de Freguesia da Lousã e Vilarinho
Junta de Freguesia da Lousã e Vilarinho
Lousã
associations
Conselho Directivo dos Baldios da Lousã
Conselho Directivo dos Baldios da Lousã
Lousã
local products
Lousãmel
Lousãmel
Lousã
associations
GERL - Lousã Regional Heritage Group
GERL - Lousã Regional Heritage Group
Lousã
village
Casal Novo
Casal Novo
tour
PR1 LSA - LOUSÃ SCHIST TRAILS - ROTA DOS MOINHOS
PR1 LSA - LOUSÃ SCHIST TRAILS - ROTA DOS MOINHOS
Casa Princesa Peralta
institutional
Câmara Municipal da Lousã
Câmara Municipal da Lousã
Lousã
village
Chiqueiro
Chiqueiro