About
Prados
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The count helps to catch your breath after the ascent to Penha dos Prados. Up there, there are seven castles that the eyes reach through the endless forested area. From there, the brave peoples of the village of Prados could see the most distant fortifications but ignored the neighbours who lived next door: the Linhares castle (the eighth and the closest geographically) is the only one that hides from view from the highest point of the municipality of Celorico da Beira.
Illusively close to what is far and inevitably distant from those who are close to it, the population of Prados once lived isolated on the slopes of the mountain, enjoying a reputation that was not recommended: it was said that the people, trapped in a fortified village, were as eager for conflict and violence as they were apart from civilization and progress. Whether factual history or legend, no one can deny the genuine hospitality with which the population receives each outsider.
From those distant times, rich in narratives and beliefs, there are those traditions that crossed generations and still echo through the streets of the village, in recreations such as the “Order of Souls” (at the time of Lent). There are extensive fields of forest (especially chestnut trees), fertile soils and abundant water. There are many shepherds and flocks that, to this day, still insist on roaming through those fields, plateau above, plateau below. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... and the eighth castle hidden by the green cloak. Prados has not lost its meaning.
33
open gallery
