the network's headquarters has a mining spoil heap as part of the scenery
Barroca is the administrative headquarters of the Aldeias do Xisto network, and therefore the central village of the network's 27. The Casa Grande, an 18th-century manor in the centre of the village, houses the AdX Centro Dinamizador and from there any route through the network starts. But it also houses the Centro de Interpretação de Arte Rupestre do Poço do Caldeirão, and that's the second reason to come.
You cross the pedestrian bridge over the Zêzere to reach the rock engravings on the other bank, thousands of years before the network, the house, and the village itself. The Cabeço do Pião is also visible: the stone pyramids on the horizon are the slag heaps of the Lavaria, a former processing unit of the Minas da Panasqueira. Today they're landscape, not industry.
The old part of Barroca sits on a hill flanked by two watercourses, perpendicular to the Zêzere. There are old mills along the path to the river, and the Grande Rota do Zêzere passes through here. You come for the headquarters, you stay for the riverbank.
good to know
- administrative headquarters of the aldeias do xisto network: centro dinamizador in the casa grande (18th-century manor)
- pedestrian bridge over the zêzere leads to the poço do caldeirão rock engravings on the other bank
- stone pyramids of the lavaria do cabeço do pião visible, legacy of the minas da panasqueira
- old mills on the path to the river, grande rota do zêzere (gr33) passes through
- old nucleus on a hill between two watercourses, perpendicular to the zêzere
