“Schist Villages” Project
“Schist Villages” project aims the rehabilitation and conservation of schist villages in Portugal. It began in 2000, and currently it includes 27 schist villages of 21 different municipalities, from the North of the country to Tejo valley.
Tourism appeared to bring economical autonomy to the villages as well as conserve and divulge their traditions.
We can also highlight the teamwork of the several municipalities which guarantees their success in the project.The main objectives of this project are: the village’s revitalization, bringing life to the place and inhabitants to the buildings; creating a sustainable community and strong economy; rural tourism opportunities; the valorization and preservation of the natural aspects of Portugal and built legacy. For which, the houses passed by a restoration process: they were amplified and modernized, making the interiors much more comfortable, without changing its rustic appearance. The villages themselves also received new conditions, like running water, electricity, and small stores to provide the population first necessity products.
“Schist Villages” in Lousã
In Lousã, some schist villages were proposed to enter the villages network, being five of them integrated.
Joel Fernandes, tourism technician and one of the Lousã project responsibles, explained that the villages renovation was a very complex process, because of its bad accessibility. Apart from that, the environmental preoccupation is very present in this initiative, the responsibles tried to minimize the impact of these works in Nature: in roads construction, there is the care not to disturb deer routes, and the forest cleaning is regular, as well as the villages themselves, in order to prevent fires. The use of, for example, heavy machinery was really conditioned.
The result is quite satisfactory, since this area is unique and genuine. These villages are visited by different kinds of people: curious and nature-lovers from outside the country, especially youth; people of the city who are looking for stress relief; elders that had already lived there and take the opportunity to see the changes and to recall their childhood; and lousanenses that want to pass a weekend in a different way.
The available activities are: pedestrian walks in Lousã Mountains, concerts, old fairs, markets or weddings recreations, theatre, cinema and fluvial beaches. The local products (honey, olive oil, aromatic herbs…) and the gastronomy (the “chanfana” and the chestnuts, among others) are very valorized by locals and visitors.
Despite of being a bit expensive, this type of tourism turns out to be something really special and a fantastic experience.
Group 1: Filipa Costa, Klio Liotati, Sara Cascais, Sharad Poudel
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