The area
The mountain
Located in the center of Portugal near Serra da Estrela, Serra do Açor extends in a vast protected area.
Its fauna and flora is very diverse which includes the hawk, fox, hare and wild boar, arbutus-tree, chestnut-tree and the oak.
Walking the hills we find the characteristic terraces and schist barns that shape the landscape revealing the art and skills of the old time people.
Meandering through the mountains, the brooks cross waterfalls and dams forming fluvial beaches of a singular beauty.
The villages
Among scarps and valleys are emerging small villages that blend with the landscape. One of the most interesting is undoubtedly the Historical Village of Piódão. A secluded refuge from the rest of the world!
The disposition of the village is in amphitheatre form where the houses go down the hill to the main square where you can find the museum, outdoor cafes and restaurants.
Integrated in the same parish and with origins even more remote is the village of Chãs d’Égua. Here are recently discovered about a hundred paintings of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The old primary school was then converted in the first Centre of Interpretation for rupestral Art in the country.
The plan is of a typical mountain village where each property was conquered to the mountain and the houses constructed with the rock proceeding from this conquest.
Located at high altitude, gives us an amazing view over the mountain accompanied by a complete silence.
Still in the Piódão area you can find other points of interest as the peculiar fluvial beach of Foz d' Égua and the old village of Pés Escaldados partially in ruins.
