Góis

By Jeep and then by foot, you will reach the “Penedos de Gois” (the Gois Cliffs). From the top, at the summit, 1040 metres above, one can get breathless with the wonderful view. The holm oaks resist amongst the majestic sobriety of the quartzite. Much further up, a bird of prey in flight draws circles in the sky.On the way up, along the “Ribeira da Pena” riverbank, we find chestnut trees and oak trees in search of the humidity. And after this, only the holm oaks, the lavenders and the shrubs resist the barrenness of the soil. The walls of the cliffs are grandiose. Down here, near the schist houses of Pena, there are farmlands similar to geometric drawings, green vegetable gardens, plots on fallow ground, heaps of straw to be later used for making the beds for the cattle.

But Gois has much more to offer: follow the Ceira River, creeping up the mountain. Discover how, in the mountain villages of Corterredor or Mestras, time seems to stand still on the schist walls of the old houses.

Then, there is the History: thousands of years old, such as in the “Pedra Letreira de Alvares”. Almost six hundred years old, just as in the Church built in 1415 and where Diogo de Castilho and João de Ruão left the mark of the great genius on the stone.But in the Chapel of the “Castelo”, the Chapel of S. Sebastião, or in the Chapel of Stº António, in the group of houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, or in the perfection of the arches of the bridge over the Rio Ceira (Ceira River), history continues to be written.

The crystal water of the Ceira River flows in the Cerejal Park. In the summer, one can take wonderful canoe trips up the river and they say that ,by the Peneda mill, there is trout and barbel to the delight of the fishermen.

The motorbike meeting that is held every year, in Góis, leaves us many stories, each of them keeping the taste of “chanfana” (goat braised in a wine sauce), or roast kid, of sausages and cheeses made of sheep or goat milk. When sugar is included in the stories, you cannot miss the cakes from the Varzea and Gois.