Portugal never ceases to amaze us with its variety of landscapes and sights – and this is true even after two years of living in Lisbon. We had similar thoughts on our way to Piodão in the Serra do Açor mountains.
Piódão is a scenic village just a 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Coimbra. However, it’s not the distance that affects the travel time, but the curves in the mountain roads. The journey to this place is an adventure in itself. However, the view of Piódão and visiting this village hidden in the mountains is worth the adrenaline rush.
The houses in Piódão are organized in the form of an amphitheater and surround a nearby hill. So if you walk through the streets of Piódão, it feels like you are walking on the roofs of the buildings below. The main material used in the construction was schist present in the nearby mountains. Only a few buildings are painted white and blue. Rumor has it that these were the only paint colors available in the local store…which is easy to believe.
Piódão’s difficult accessibility made it an ideal refuge for fugitives from the law. Today this is unlikely to happen and Piódão is connected to other villages by a paved road. However, this does not change the fact that it is still quite an isolated place. There is some beauty in that – but it also brings humility before the nature of the mountains. Would you like to live in such a place?
