Attractions and Places To See around Alvites - Top 7

The Terras de Cavaleiros Geopark, where Grijó is located, is located in the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros, in the heart of Northeast Transmontano (Portugal). It has been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2015 and covers approximately 700 km², with 42 geosites that tell the geological story of more than 400 million years.

With the administrative reform of 1853, Macedo de Cavaleiros became one of the municipalities of Portugal. This elevation to the status of municipality was met with opposition, both in rural areas, where the struggles between those in favour of the old and the new municipality lasted until 1911, and in parliamentary circles, triggered mainly by the deputy for the Moncorvo constituency, João Pedro de Almeida Pessanha. Even so, the municipality was confirmed by royal decree on 24 October 1855. On 15 January 1863, Macedo de Cavaleiros was elevated to the status of town. In 1903, the railway was built, establishing the Tua line, which naturally gave a strong economic boost to the region. Finally, on 13 May 1999, Macedo de Cavaleiros was elevated to the status of city.

The Podence Carnival Festival is held by the community of Podence, which belongs to the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros, in the district of Bragança. This is a social practice related to the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It takes place between Sunday and Shrove Tuesday in the most colourful village in Portugal, Podence. In the heart of the Northeast of Trás-os-Montes, the much-acclaimed Podence Carnival – Entrudo Chocalheiro – is celebrated during the carnival week, where the Podence Caretos (a pagan performance) bring colour to the village and to the many tourists who pass through with their costumes. This ritual event, which originated in the so-called “long time”, when life was organised according to the rhythms of the agricultural cycle, refers to the festivities celebrating the end of the winter cycle and the beginning of the spring production cycle. Unique in relation to other Carnival festivities held in other parts of the country and adapting to a post-rural socio-economic context, the Podence Caretos Carnival festival today takes on its own particularities, through its elements – the mask and the costume, the behaviours that characterise the ritual and the protagonists of the festival, the masked people, known as “caretos”, and its current social function, assuming a distinctive and unique format.

Caretos Museum, entrance fee. There is a small restaurant in the space next door. The Caretos of Podence are a distinctive feature of the Trás os Montes region. The event Entrudo Chocalheiro Carnaval dos Caretos is a national and international attraction. The tradition is lost in time, a tradition that was on the verge of disappearing in the sixties and seventies, due to emigration and the Colonial War of the last century. The Careto of Podence is known for its performative behaviour, the “coalhalhadas” (the shaking of the hands) mainly performed by women, a symbolic act that harks back to a remote origin and a possible connection to ancient agrarian and fertility rituals. Today, these masked people visit the homes of neighbours and relatives in a convivial ritual, emigrants returning to their homeland. The Chocalheiro Carnival is therefore an essential moment in the lives of the descendants of Podence, who return during Carnival to continue the practice they inherited from their parents and grandparents. The Caretos thus gain even more importance for the Transmontana region, attracting more and more visitors every year. The Caretos, together with the seal of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, thus characterise a new way of looking at the tradition of a region prone to depopulation, but which manages to move thousands when, through effort and commitment, it achieves feats that are thus recognised throughout the world.

Earth history can be experienced here

Beautiful farmhouse in this small town of Romeu and its streets are cobbled, full of history.

Well-known city in this area of Portugal thanks to the nearby Albufeira do Azibo, a humid area that offers beach areas and roads with good views.