Castro Laboreiro

This village has a historic and architectural heritage of great wealth, highlighting its own type of Castro constructions existing in Castro Laboreiro: the Castle of Castro Laboreiro - classified as a national monument; the Igreja Matriz de Castro Laboreiro; the Pelourinho de Castro Laboreiro, dating from the 16th century, classified as a property of public interest; medieval churches; community ovens; the granaries; and the mills.

Castro Laboreiro is one of the most emblematic villages in the Peneda Gerês National Park, the result of the isolation it suffered in the past, which allowed intact today, aspects of the historical and cultural heritage of the village, such as architecture, landscape and way of life of its people, still today marked by a strong community spirit.

Located in the extreme north of Alto Minho and Portugal. It is located on the top of the mountain, at more than a thousand meters of altitude, which led the Castro to defend their customs, and traditions of all strange influences, which still persist today. One of these traditions is that of greenhouses and brandas. In mid-December, with the arrival of cold and snowfalls, the populations of Castro Laboreiro take their clothes, household and farming utensils and, tangling the cattle, migrate en masse to the valleys, where they have a second home and a second home. village. '(Rocha, 1993, p. 127). And they stay in Inverneira, sheltered from the cold, until mid-March.

At the Castro Laboreiro Museum Center it is possible to learn about the habits, customs and traditions of the people of the land. Land of ‘widows of the living’, the name that its inhabitants gave to women whose husbands, children and grandchildren emigrated in search of better living conditions.

It is a region of great beauty, meandered by the Laboreiro River, which is crossed by numerous bridges representative of the Roman or medieval times, of which stand out Ponte da Dorna, Ponte da Capela, Ponte Nova or Cava Velha and Ponte Velha.

Castro Laboreiro is also known for his smokehouse and sausages, made in the traditional way, by skilled hands and with the knowledge of years and years.

The guardian of this location is the Dog of Castro Laboreiro, defending the cattle of the great predator, the Iberian Wolf, known for its rusticity, character and nobility since ancient times.

Source: https://www.cm-melgaco.pt