"With the protest of the sick body for the tormenting jerks of the long walk, I came here to say goodbye to primeval Portugal. I've already done it from the other images of your adult configuration. I was missing this embryonic egg"
Miguel Torga, Miguel Torga e a Região de Arganil, 1991
Piódão is a village where man's communion with nature still reigns over man's greed. The simplicity of the schist houses, dotted with the blue of their doors, almost looks like a village removed from children's stories, some even calling it a “doll village” or the “village of Astérix”.
This secret protected by the Serra do Açor, rose in an inhospitable place, to later become harmonious with its surroundings. The houses are distributed on the mountain terraces, divided by winding and narrow alleys, hiding in themselves stories worthy of their time.
One of the greatest love stories that Portugal has ever witnessed was the forbidden passion between D. Pedro I of Portugal and D. Inês de Castro, an aide to D. Pedro's wife, D. Constança Manuel. This was a perfect marriage for the Portuguese crown, as the Portuguese heir had married the daughter of one of the empire's greatest allies. But love does not yield its power to strategic alliances and, even after King Afonso IV exiled D. Inês to Albuquerque castle, the lovers continued to exchange correspondence.
And in a game of fate, D. Constança dies when giving birth to the future king of Portugal, D. Fernando I. It was not long before rumors were heard that D. Pedro would have married D. Inês in secret, and in absentia of the king. Furious, D. Afonso IV goes with Pero Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, and Diogo Lopes Pacheco to Paço de Santa Clara, in Coimbra, where the two had settled and executed Inês de Castro. D. Pedro, in revolt, decides to pursue and kill his executioners.
This is where Piódão has a role in this bloody love story. One of the executioners, Diogo Lopes Pacheco, decides to escape to this region and finds in the village the perfect refuge to escape the anger of D. Pedro. His plan works and later manages to flee across the border to France. Later, on his deathbed, he ends up being forgiven by the Portuguese king.
Piódão is thus a village that, although protected by the nature of man's greed, is still present in the history of the country and the Portuguese. Visit this village and feel transported to a new dimension, to a unique relationship between history, man and nature, and be enchanted by the majestic beauty of the landscape. We are waiting for you 😊
