Description Penacova

Penacova is a Portuguese village in the district of Coimbra, located in the province of Beira Litoral, in the Centro region (Beiras Region) and in the Region of Coimbra sub-region, with about 3,200 inhabitants.

The estate that marks the history and traditions of this municipality are an unparalleled and irreplaceable record in the preservation of Penacova's identity and collective memory.

To get to know it you have to arrive and get lost among valleys, breathe the fresh air of the mountains and the river, let the green of the landscape invade our senses. It is like this Penacova, land of rivers and streams, viewpoints and cliffs, of mills and watermills, of wind and water.

In the center of the village, the highlight goes to the Pergola Raúl Lino, designed by the architect with the same name. Stage of countless events throughout the year, the Pérgola terrace invites you to sit and enjoy from the balcony, under the old wisteria strains, the landscape that is superb.

You can also find very close, at Largo Alberto Leitão, the bust, by Cabral Antunes, by António José de Almeida, 6th president of the Portuguese Republic, born in Vale da Vinha, São Pedro de Alva. Nearby, the Mother Church, dedicated to Senhora Assunção, invites you to stroll along the sidewalk, observe the faces of those we come across and discover the picturesque façades or the old pillory today transformed into a cruise.

At the bow of the village, the “castle head”, let us be dazzled by the Emydio da Silva Lookout. From here the view is superb, and the splendor of the valley floods the angles of our view.

Nearby, arranged almost vertically, like books on a shelf, the siluric quartzites form the most important Natural Monument in the County, Livraria do Mondego.

In Lorvão, a town in the municipality of Penacova, rises the Monastery of Lorvão. This is among the oldest in Europe, since its foundation dates back to the middle of the sixth century, according to the memories reported by monastic chroniclers, and since 1910 it has been designated a National Monument.

It is also in the municipality of Penacova that one of the most important national molinological groups is located. Distributed throughout the county, windmills, wheels and watermills live up to the words of Nemésio who, David Mourão Ferreira, right here in Penacova, called the tireless miller of words. In Portela de Oliveira, the Moinho Museum pays homage to Vitorino Nemésio, who gives it its name, and allows those who visit to observe a magnificent collection dedicated to this ancestral art.