Historical Village of Piódão
The Historical Village of Piódão is a small mountain village in the Serra do Açor made of closely packed stone houses with dark slate walls, blue and white painted doors and windows. Narrow paved streets follow the hillside shape and connect the houses through small bridges over streams flowing through the settlement.
Piódão was founded many centuries ago and developed through agriculture on terraced hillsides as residents farmed the steep mountain landscape. In the 1800s, Padre Manuel Fernandes Nogueira brought major changes by building a school, improving roads and bridges, and redesigning the church facade with architectural details from other countries.
The village name Piódão comes from how the stone houses cluster together like a living nativity scene. Residents keep their craft traditions alive by making homemade cheeses, jams, and liqueurs from local fruits and herbs, sharing these with visitors as a living connection to their past.
The village is only reachable by car via narrow and winding mountain roads that require careful driving and take time but offer nice views along the way. Small guesthouses and inns are available in the village or in nearby settlements like Chãs d'Égua where you can stay overnight and explore the area at a relaxed pace.
Piódão is also called the Nativity Village because the tightly packed houses with their blue windows look like a living nativity scene when lit at night. This distinctive shape developed naturally as people built the stone houses close together to conserve heat and make best use of the mountainside.
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