Piódão - Portugal 2022 (from above)

Located in Arganil in the Coimbra district, the picturesque village of Piódão is one of the “12 Historical Villages of Portugal” (a program created by the Portuguese government in 1991, to restore and enhance a series of villages in the Beira Interior region, older than the country itself).
Piódão is also known as “The Nativity Scene Village” or “The Most Typical Village In Portugal”, because of its narrow, steep, and maze-like alleys, and its dozens of “dollhouses”, with schist walls, roofs covered with slabs, and doors (as well as windows) painted in blue!
(danielasantosa...)
The picturesque little village of Piodão clings to a steeply terraced mountainside deep within the foothills of the Serra de Açor range in central Portugal. This is a protected landscape of deep river valleys, pine & eucalyptus forests and craggy peaks. It is also one of the remotest areas in Portugal and until the 1970s the only way to reach Piodão was on foot or by horse.
There are a number of pretty villages dotted around this mountainous region but Piodão really stands out for its jumble of tightly packed two and three storey houses made entirely of schist. Schist is a stone found in abundance locally and has an appearance somewhere between slate and granite, with rich warm tones.
As you wander around the steep, narrow cobbled streets you will notice a large number of doors are painted in a bright blue colour. There is a very simple historic reason for this and the story goes that this is the only colour the local shop had. Given Piodão's remote location this is probably true, but whatever the case this is now firmly set in tradition. Also traditional are the crosses over the doorways which it is said ward of curses and thunderstorms.
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