the schist village that's also built in quartzite
Pena was built on a quartzite spur, on the left bank of the Ribeira da Pena, with the Penedos de Góis rising on the opposite bank. The houses look like they're defying gravity: look up and you see the rocky escarpment, look down and you see the stream cutting through the valley. At the entrance, beside the bridge over the stream, a centuries-old chestnut tree is waiting for you.
What sets this village apart from the others in the network is the material. Here schist doesn't stand alone: it's mixed with the quartzite of the same outcrop that makes the penedos, and anyone who walks through the village notices the lighter walls mixed in with the usual dark brown. The layout is simple: one main street running its length, several quelhos branching off it, a fountain at the centre. There's no chapel of its own: the only religious element here is an Alminha in honour of Santa Rita.
Access to the village is via the EN2 from Góis, on a mountain road, about twelve kilometres from town. Below, the Ribeira da Pena runs between steep banks, in several places forming waterfalls and opening into pools known as Poço Escuro de Cima and Poço Escuro de Baixo, with swimming in summer. Between Pena and neighbouring Aigra Velha stretches the Parque Florestal da Oitava, 470 hectares of woodland in the Natura 2000 network, with chestnuts, maritime pine, arbutus and holly. From the viewpoints around, on clear days you can see the Serra da Estrela in the distance and the Alto do Trevim on the Lousã side. Down below, in the stream, the pools keep no schedule.
good to know
- the road up is a mountain road, narrow; take it easy
- the poço escuro pools are for summer swimming, but the water is cold
- the centuries-old chestnut tree is at the entrance, by the bridge over the stream
- the Trilho do Baile (PR9 GOI) makes a circular route passing through pena and aigra velha
