This journey from Ribeira da Carpinteira , begins at the Royal Cloth Factory Center of the Wool Museum of the University of Beira Interior. In this place, where weaving and finishing workshops already existed in the middle of the 18th century, the second great State manufacture was built, destined to become a model factory, concentrating the various manufacturing operations, and as an engine for the development of the industry. local. For its construction, King D. José I gave permission to use the stones of the medieval wall of the village, which were fallen after the damage of the 1755 earthquake. In 1803, at the service of this Royal Factory, more than three thousand workers, with 356 workers only in the main facilities of the factory and another 219 workers spread over the carding and spinning schools, within a radius of influence that included Penamacor, Castelejo, Casteleiro, Alpedrinha, Lardosa, S. Vicente da Beira, S. Miguel d’Acha, S. Gião and Penalva. There were also 1,375 women who had wheels belonging to the Royal factory in their homes, where they worked at home. The Royal Factory of Fundão was also located in its dependence, where 147 more workers and 1,355 spinners worked in the household in the Vila and its surroundings, in several spinning schools.
(You can consult the PDF document for the entire route)
