Barco – Barco Rest Area

Type: Linear Pedestrian; Distance: 1,1 Km

Average Duration: 15m (pedestrian) 5m (MTB)

A bucolic village with a splendid landscape that stretches along the north bank of the River Zêzere, it was for many years the crossing point for people and goods between the banks of the river, earning its name from there. Barco is proud of its typical mountain houses, with a rural aspect among monuments such as the Mother Church, the Roman Fountain or the many Alminhas that are found in the region, symbol of the religious fervor of the population. It also has places of tourist interest that attract visitors to the village, such as the river beach, the oil mill, the ruins of a Roman camp better known as the Cabeço da Argemela and the natural landscape itself, with emphasis on the River Zêzere.

Commerce, industry, civil construction and handicrafts, namely paintings and the manufacture of the well-known blankets of Orelos , are also some of the activities developed in the village by the resident population. This parish is rich in gastronomy, with its sausages, river fish, wild boar and the already famous brulhões which are the motto for the Brulhão Festival being well known every year.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE

Leaving this locality by a secondary road, on a dirt track, which connects to Ourondo, the route starts an ascent that progressively offers us wider views over the river. Having reached the highest point of this climb, we are faced with a window into the history of these communities, with the village on one side, the old mines on the other and the river curves separating them.