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The Brunheiro Mountains |
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Religion
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In Chaves it is not easy to ignore Brunheiro Mountain which rises to the east of the fertile valley, helping to shelter the town from the bitter winds that sometimes blow in January and February. This extension of the Padrela mountains shelters many interesting villages and is an unlimited treasure of paths and back roads for hiking, cycling or just driving to get out of the concrete jungle that our urban areas have become. These
mountains are crossed by several dirt roads, including one that climbs
up from Vilar de Nantes to a chapel and a cross and another that follows
the middle of the elevation for several kilometers as far as the village
of Cela near S. Lourenço. Both
roads can be negotiated by car but four-wheel drive would be necessary
in the winter. The cross,
which can be reached directly from Vilar de Nantes on a bad dirt road
which is not possible to travel on after heavy rains unless you have
four wheel drive--is lit up at night and can be seen for miles.
The adjoining chapel, without historic or artistic interest,
is devoted to Our Lord of Good Hope whose festival is in August.
For the walker, a path leaves the chapel and starts a strenuous
climb up to the top. Along
the way there is a spring for drinking water, which in the summer will
be needed. The
vegetation consists of pines, chestnuts, oak and alders, although
most of the forest has been devastated by fires.
Of the bushes we can mention broom weed, the strawberry tree or
arbutus, gorse, heath and blackthorn (abrunheiro in Portuguese)
There are some who believe that the mountains take their name from this
bush, while others say that the name comes from a settlement called
Brunheiro. Until recently
the brush here was cut for bedding for animals and to fertilize the
fields, as well as for fuel for the ovens that were used to bake pottery
in Vilar de Nantes. The
Brunheiro provided the main resource-switches-for all the baskets that
were sold in the area. The
basket makers who went up and down the mountain constantly, day and
night to get their raw material, knew it like the palm of their hand;
they knew all its secrets and they had great respect for it. Despite
overuse by man, the Brunheiro has always been rich in wildlife.
Even today, despite massive hunting, there are wild pigs,
foxes, rabbits, hares, partridges, and hawks.
The Carmona family "solar" in Isei with the Brunheiro Mountains in the background
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