Vilarinho da Furna
Encyclopedia
Vilarinho da Furna is a village that was submerged in 1972 by the filling of the reservoir with the same name. It is located on the River Homem up to Ribeira do Eido, in the municipality of Terras de Bouro
in the Braga
district, in the Minho region of northern Portugal
. In a legal twist, the submerged land is still in the hands of the former villagers, but the use of the dam belongs to the Portuguese state. At times when the level of the reservoir falls, the village emerges; these occurrences often attract tourists.
The village is known for its community style of life, which may have its roots in the time of the Visigoths.
(Via Nova XVIII) was developed. According to the tradition, seven men settled down at the site of present-day Portela do Campo. After a dispute among them, four decided to settle downstream of Rio Homem, establishing what is now Vilarinho da Furna. There is no proof of this, though there are still Roman
remains: two roads approaching from south of the village and three Roman bridges, one inside the village over Ribeira do Eido, one upstream (Ponte Nova), and one downstream (Ponte do Couço), as well as many others in the region.
Little is known about the village since Roman times. The first written reference is from a 1623 book on baptisms, etc. (Livro Misto numéro 1 dos Baptismos, Casamentos e Óbitos, S. João do Campo).
A German travelling in Portugal in the final years of the 18th century visited Vilarinho da Furna. He noted that the houses were as simple as those of any other peasants in the region. However, his large host family lived comfortably; in contrast to many other places, they had no shortage of food, and their beds were clean and made up with white linen. He suggested that many German peasants would envy how well-off they were (Link, 1803 mentioned in Cleto, 2001).
Several versions of the village's name exist: Vilarinho da Furna, Vilarinho das Furnas, Vilarinho, Villarinho, Vilarinho de Furmas, VIllarinho da Furna and Villarinho das Furnas. The villagers and residents of nearby villages generally know it as Vilarinho da Furna. "Das Furnas" is probably a reference to the rock cavities found near the spring of Rio de Furnas.
, giving the village both good solar exposure and protection from the northerly winds from the higher mountains. The local springs usually did not dry out during the summers. Fertile soils were generally found only in places were the streams could flood to leave sediments. This provided the conditions for a diverse agriculture typical of the area, with maize
and small plots or gardens, interspersed with hanging vines to make vinho verde
, the typical wine of the Minho region. The villagers kept hens, cows, pigs, sheep and goats. The trees in the small valleys provided shade for them in the hot months of late summer. Pasture land atop the hills (reaching up to 1300m) was usually quite sparse, with poor soils and often with only naked rocks. Only the small portion of land in the lower, less inclined areas was suitable to provide hay and forage for cows. The Ribeira da Furna fed the community spring and levada
, which was controlled by a system of sluice gates to supply water to villagers and cattle, and to irrigate the fields below the village.
In order to avoid occupying arable
land, the houses in the village were side-by-side, thus defining the streets, alleys and the common spaces, including the alpendoradas in which the Junta gathered. Because of the lack of space inside the village, the houses tended to extend out over the streets, creating overhangs.
The lands belonging to Vilarinho da Furna encompass 3000 hectares. In 1895, after a dispute with the Forest Agency (Serviços Florestais), these lands became the shared private property of the descendants of the villagers who signed a contract ending the dispute.
The exodus
started in September 1969, when the then Portuguese Electricity Company (Compania Portuguesa de Electricidade) started to pay out the indemnity
fees. In October 1970, notices were posted throughout the village stating that the reservoir was about to be filled. The last inhabitant left in 1971, and the village was submerged the following year.
Before the dam was built, all roads leading to the village were constructed by the villagers. The dam construction company attempted to build a new road to evacuate the villagers, but this attempt failed. In the end, the villagers had to construct a new road to allow them to take their belongings by truck from the village.
The villagers received a total of 20,741,607 escudos
. Excluding houses and other structures, the land itself was valued by HICA (Companhia Hidroeléctrica do Cavado) at half an escudo per square meter—at the time, the price of half a sardine. The indemnisation for everything, including structures, was 5 escudos per square meter. This amount might have been less than the cost HICA incurred to build houses for its workers. Residents tried to bring away as much of their belongings as possible, even the roof tiles; only the bare walls of most of the houses were left behind.
The reservoir covers 344 hectares, with a useful reservoir capacity of 69.7 hm3. The dam has an installed maximum power capacity of 125 MW.
The village had a council, called the Junta, with a member for each family. This is believed to be a practice dating back to the Visigoths, with their conventus publicus vicinorum (public assembly of neighbours). The Junta's leader (Zelador, or Juíz) was chosen from among the married men, and sat for a term of six months together with its legislative chamber (Os Seis). At the beginning of each term all voters one by one went into a room with the new Zelador and gave him a note with name of six of the neighbours to elect the new "Os Seis". In a tradition that was abandoned already when Jorge Dias was around the old Zelador would give the new Zelador a whip upon which the new would swear an oath on the Santos Evangelhos. The council discussed and made decisions concerning many aspects of village life, discussing some matters in great detail. This discussion at the council made Vilarinho da Furna a participatory democracy
based on its consuetudinary
laws.
Matters discussed by the Junta included preparing new routes and repairing existing ones; organising the pastoral duties, including the herding of the cattle; irrigating the fields; cutting wood and clearing forests; trapping wolves; and harvesting grapes. In essence, the Junta was charged with making sure that nothing went undone in this largely self-sustaining
community. In the last years of the village's existence, the Junta also devoted itself to devising strategies to fight its final enemy, the company that constructed the dam.
The Junta also judged and punished any crimes; thus the leader was referred to as the Judge (juiz). Absence from meetings of the Junta was punished: slight delays were fined; for absences, the offender owed the village one day of community work. The most severe punishment for any transgression within the community was to be excluded from it (botar fora do vizinho). The offender would not receive any help within the scope of the communitarian lifestyle, so no one else would herd his cattle; and he would be denied access to the communal land. In essence, this meant exile from the village.
The village's economy was based on cattle. In 1968, the herd consisted of over 1600 head, not counting calves born in that year. At the end of World War II
, the count was almost 1000 head higher, as a result of the high price of domestically-produced meat. Little beef or butter was found on the village's tables, and milk was only taken after calving; the focus was on feeding cattle for sale. Cattle were generally pastured in the lower lands; goats were kept up on the hills. The cow pastures were divided by stone fences to avoid mixing the animals, in particular to separate the castrated cattle from the bulls to avoid upsetting the latter. The villagers took turns herding, so that everyone had to spend time away from the village. A herder was fined if it was determined that an animal had been killed or had disappeared through his fault or negligence. Villagers in the fields prepared supper for those who watched the herds. The mountains around the village, especially Serra da Amarela, have a number of small huts (casarotas) as temporary lodging for the herders. Every spring the villagers went out to mend the stone fence that defined the outer perimeter of the land (termo).
Museum in São João do Campo commemorating Vilarinho da Furna. The collection includes clothes, agricultural tools, and paintings depicting daily life in the village. The museum was built with stones from two houses of the old village. It was opened by Prime Minister
Cavaco Silva on 14 May 1989.
In 2008, Terras de Bouro launched the project "Valorização do Espaço Natural da Serra da Amarela" (Valorisation of the natural space of Serra da Amarela). This project, based around the Natur Parque (Nature Park) of Vilarinho da Furna, includes an underwater museum, a boat with a transparent bottom and a quay for it, a wildlife observation post, two mountain shelters, water and solar energy installations to provide energy for the installations of the park, beehives, a camping site, a bike path, and reconstruction of the old bridge at Couço
and of the water mills in the area. The project was approved in July 2008 with total funding of 1.2 million euros over 2 years, although the it is estimated that another 2-3M€ will be needed to cover the expenses of the buildings and access roads.
The municipalities of Terras de Bouro and Ponte da Barca are also jointly developing a hiking
route along Serra da Amarela. The trail as planned will pass through Chã da Fonte, Casa da Neve, Branca de Bilhares, Entre-ambos-os-Rios, Germil, Brufe, Casarotas, Fojo do Lobos and back to Vilarinho da Furna.
reserve, developing an underwater museum, and tourist activities that defend the heritage.
Terras de Bouro
Terras de Bouro is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 277.5 km² and a total population of 7,955 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes, and is located in the district of Braga. The present Mayor is António Ferreira Afonso, elected by the Social Democratic Party...
in the Braga
Braga
Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...
district, in the Minho region of northern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. In a legal twist, the submerged land is still in the hands of the former villagers, but the use of the dam belongs to the Portuguese state. At times when the level of the reservoir falls, the village emerges; these occurrences often attract tourists.
The village is known for its community style of life, which may have its roots in the time of the Visigoths.
History up till circa 1800
Oral traditional has it that the village was founded circa 70 A.D., at the time that the nearby Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
(Via Nova XVIII) was developed. According to the tradition, seven men settled down at the site of present-day Portela do Campo. After a dispute among them, four decided to settle downstream of Rio Homem, establishing what is now Vilarinho da Furna. There is no proof of this, though there are still Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
remains: two roads approaching from south of the village and three Roman bridges, one inside the village over Ribeira do Eido, one upstream (Ponte Nova), and one downstream (Ponte do Couço), as well as many others in the region.
Little is known about the village since Roman times. The first written reference is from a 1623 book on baptisms, etc. (Livro Misto numéro 1 dos Baptismos, Casamentos e Óbitos, S. João do Campo).
A German travelling in Portugal in the final years of the 18th century visited Vilarinho da Furna. He noted that the houses were as simple as those of any other peasants in the region. However, his large host family lived comfortably; in contrast to many other places, they had no shortage of food, and their beds were clean and made up with white linen. He suggested that many German peasants would envy how well-off they were (Link, 1803 mentioned in Cleto, 2001).
Several versions of the village's name exist: Vilarinho da Furna, Vilarinho das Furnas, Vilarinho, Villarinho, Vilarinho de Furmas, VIllarinho da Furna and Villarinho das Furnas. The villagers and residents of nearby villages generally know it as Vilarinho da Furna. "Das Furnas" is probably a reference to the rock cavities found near the spring of Rio de Furnas.
The locale
Vilarinho da Furna was located on the southern slopes of Serra AmarelaPeneda-Gerês National Park
The Peneda-Gerês National Park , also known simply as Gerês, is the only national park in Portugal...
, giving the village both good solar exposure and protection from the northerly winds from the higher mountains. The local springs usually did not dry out during the summers. Fertile soils were generally found only in places were the streams could flood to leave sediments. This provided the conditions for a diverse agriculture typical of the area, with maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and small plots or gardens, interspersed with hanging vines to make vinho verde
Vinho Verde
Vinho Verde is a Portuguese wine from the Minho region in the far north of the country. The name literally means "Green Wine" , referring to its youthful freshness that leads to a very slight green color on the edges of the wine. The region is characterized by its many small growers, which...
, the typical wine of the Minho region. The villagers kept hens, cows, pigs, sheep and goats. The trees in the small valleys provided shade for them in the hot months of late summer. Pasture land atop the hills (reaching up to 1300m) was usually quite sparse, with poor soils and often with only naked rocks. Only the small portion of land in the lower, less inclined areas was suitable to provide hay and forage for cows. The Ribeira da Furna fed the community spring and levada
Levada
A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean .-History:...
, which was controlled by a system of sluice gates to supply water to villagers and cattle, and to irrigate the fields below the village.
In order to avoid occupying arable
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
land, the houses in the village were side-by-side, thus defining the streets, alleys and the common spaces, including the alpendoradas in which the Junta gathered. Because of the lack of space inside the village, the houses tended to extend out over the streets, creating overhangs.
The lands belonging to Vilarinho da Furna encompass 3000 hectares. In 1895, after a dispute with the Forest Agency (Serviços Florestais), these lands became the shared private property of the descendants of the villagers who signed a contract ending the dispute.
The exodus and the dam
Planning for the dam began in the 1950s with terrain surveys and test drilling. Construction started in 1967. At this time, the village had almost 300 inhabitants in 57 families spread over 80 houses.The exodus
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
started in September 1969, when the then Portuguese Electricity Company (Compania Portuguesa de Electricidade) started to pay out the indemnity
Indemnity
An indemnity is a sum paid by A to B by way of compensation for a particular loss suffered by B. The indemnitor may or may not be responsible for the loss suffered by the indemnitee...
fees. In October 1970, notices were posted throughout the village stating that the reservoir was about to be filled. The last inhabitant left in 1971, and the village was submerged the following year.
Before the dam was built, all roads leading to the village were constructed by the villagers. The dam construction company attempted to build a new road to evacuate the villagers, but this attempt failed. In the end, the villagers had to construct a new road to allow them to take their belongings by truck from the village.
The villagers received a total of 20,741,607 escudos
Portuguese escudo
The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos....
. Excluding houses and other structures, the land itself was valued by HICA (Companhia Hidroeléctrica do Cavado) at half an escudo per square meter—at the time, the price of half a sardine. The indemnisation for everything, including structures, was 5 escudos per square meter. This amount might have been less than the cost HICA incurred to build houses for its workers. Residents tried to bring away as much of their belongings as possible, even the roof tiles; only the bare walls of most of the houses were left behind.
The reservoir covers 344 hectares, with a useful reservoir capacity of 69.7 hm3. The dam has an installed maximum power capacity of 125 MW.
The community
Had the village not been submerged by the reservoir, it might have been completely forgotten. The construction of the dam made scientists take notice of the village and its communitarian social system, which was uncommon in the 20th century, but which in remote times was found throughout Europe.The village had a council, called the Junta, with a member for each family. This is believed to be a practice dating back to the Visigoths, with their conventus publicus vicinorum (public assembly of neighbours). The Junta's leader (Zelador, or Juíz) was chosen from among the married men, and sat for a term of six months together with its legislative chamber (Os Seis). At the beginning of each term all voters one by one went into a room with the new Zelador and gave him a note with name of six of the neighbours to elect the new "Os Seis". In a tradition that was abandoned already when Jorge Dias was around the old Zelador would give the new Zelador a whip upon which the new would swear an oath on the Santos Evangelhos. The council discussed and made decisions concerning many aspects of village life, discussing some matters in great detail. This discussion at the council made Vilarinho da Furna a participatory democracy
Participatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
based on its consuetudinary
Consuetudinary
Consuetudinary is a term applied to law where the rule of law is determined by long-standing custom as opposed to case law or statute....
laws.
Matters discussed by the Junta included preparing new routes and repairing existing ones; organising the pastoral duties, including the herding of the cattle; irrigating the fields; cutting wood and clearing forests; trapping wolves; and harvesting grapes. In essence, the Junta was charged with making sure that nothing went undone in this largely self-sustaining
Self-sustainability
A system is self-sustaining if it can maintain itself by independent effort. The system self-sustainability is:# the degree at which the system can sustain itself without external support...
community. In the last years of the village's existence, the Junta also devoted itself to devising strategies to fight its final enemy, the company that constructed the dam.
The Junta also judged and punished any crimes; thus the leader was referred to as the Judge (juiz). Absence from meetings of the Junta was punished: slight delays were fined; for absences, the offender owed the village one day of community work. The most severe punishment for any transgression within the community was to be excluded from it (botar fora do vizinho). The offender would not receive any help within the scope of the communitarian lifestyle, so no one else would herd his cattle; and he would be denied access to the communal land. In essence, this meant exile from the village.
The village's economy was based on cattle. In 1968, the herd consisted of over 1600 head, not counting calves born in that year. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the count was almost 1000 head higher, as a result of the high price of domestically-produced meat. Little beef or butter was found on the village's tables, and milk was only taken after calving; the focus was on feeding cattle for sale. Cattle were generally pastured in the lower lands; goats were kept up on the hills. The cow pastures were divided by stone fences to avoid mixing the animals, in particular to separate the castrated cattle from the bulls to avoid upsetting the latter. The villagers took turns herding, so that everyone had to spend time away from the village. A herder was fined if it was determined that an animal had been killed or had disappeared through his fault or negligence. Villagers in the fields prepared supper for those who watched the herds. The mountains around the village, especially Serra da Amarela, have a number of small huts (casarotas) as temporary lodging for the herders. Every spring the villagers went out to mend the stone fence that defined the outer perimeter of the land (termo).
The museum and Natur Parque
In 1981, the municipality of Terras de Bouro built an EthnographicEthnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
Museum in São João do Campo commemorating Vilarinho da Furna. The collection includes clothes, agricultural tools, and paintings depicting daily life in the village. The museum was built with stones from two houses of the old village. It was opened by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Portugal
Prime Minister is the current title of the chief of the Portuguese Government. As chief executive, the Prime Minister coordinates the action of ministers, representing the Government from the other organs of state, accountable to Parliament and keeps the President informed...
Cavaco Silva on 14 May 1989.
In 2008, Terras de Bouro launched the project "Valorização do Espaço Natural da Serra da Amarela" (Valorisation of the natural space of Serra da Amarela). This project, based around the Natur Parque (Nature Park) of Vilarinho da Furna, includes an underwater museum, a boat with a transparent bottom and a quay for it, a wildlife observation post, two mountain shelters, water and solar energy installations to provide energy for the installations of the park, beehives, a camping site, a bike path, and reconstruction of the old bridge at Couço
Couço
Couço is a town in Portugal....
and of the water mills in the area. The project was approved in July 2008 with total funding of 1.2 million euros over 2 years, although the it is estimated that another 2-3M€ will be needed to cover the expenses of the buildings and access roads.
The municipalities of Terras de Bouro and Ponte da Barca are also jointly developing a hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
route along Serra da Amarela. The trail as planned will pass through Chã da Fonte, Casa da Neve, Branca de Bilhares, Entre-ambos-os-Rios, Germil, Brufe, Casarotas, Fojo do Lobos and back to Vilarinho da Furna.
AFURNA
In October 1985, the former villagers created the association AFURNA (Associação dos Antigos Habitantes de Vilarinho da Furna). The association's purpose was to defend and promote the cultural collective and communitarian heritage of the people of the old village. Some of its goals have been realized, at least in part: reforestation of the old lands, creation of a faunaFauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
reserve, developing an underwater museum, and tourist activities that defend the heritage.
External links
- Etnographic Museum of Vilarinho das Furnas (In Portuguese)
- Vilarinho da Furna (In Portuguese)
- AFURNA, Old site (In Portuguese)
- A list of texts referring to Vilarino da Furna by Prof. Antunes (In Portuguese)
- Blog Vento Norte items tagged Vilarinho da Furna
- Aerial view of Vilarinho da Furna at low water
Further reading
- António Jorge Dias, Vilarinho da Furna. Uma aldeia comunitária, 1948
- Jorge Dias. Vilarinho da Furna: Uma Aldeia Comunitária. Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda. Lisboa, 1983 (In Portuguese) (Facsimile of the book released in 1948?)
- Manuel de Azevedo Antunes, Requiem por Vilarinho da Furna - Uma Aldeia Afundada. Colec. Meia Hora de Leitura. Lisboa: Biblioteca da Universidade Lusófona, 1994
- Manuel de Azevedo Antunes, Vilarinho da Furna, Memórias do Passado e do Futuro, Lisboa, 2ª Edição, CEPAD, ULHT, 2005
- Machado Cruz J.A., Bender K., Burckhardt, K. Küppers, F. Benkmann H.-G. & Goedde H.W., Genetic studies of some red cell and serum protein polymorphisms in the population of Vilarinho da Furna ( Portugal), Trabalhos do Instituto de Antropologia "Dr. Mendes Corrêa" vol 15 pages 3–15, 1973
- António Campos, Vilarinho da Furna, 1971. This is an (unrealised?), 16 mm, b/w., 60 min documentary about life in the village during its 12 last months. Much of the narrative in the film was done ad lib by the villager Aníbal Pereira.
- Lucinda Duarte, Luísa Teixeira and Mafalda Santos, Aldeias submersas em consequência da construção de Barragens: Vilarinho da Furna (1971); aldeia da Luz, Alentejo (2002) deslocação das populações e recomposição do seu tecido espacial e social: - continuidade ou descontinuidade? Lisbon, Universidade Lusófona, Lic. thesis, 2003
- M. Link. Voyage en Portugal depuis 1797 jusqu’en 1799 (traduit de l’Allemand). Paris,v1803. tomo II, p. 29-31.
- Luís Polonah, Comunidades Camponesas no Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, Lisboa: Serviço Nacional de Parques, 1987.
- Vilarinho das Furnas. Aproveitamento hidroeléctrico. Gaia: Companhia Portuguesa de Electricidade CPE, SARL, 1972. 40 p.
- Fortunata Piselli, Caminhos silenciosos da mudança (Quatro Aldeias Antes e Depois do 25 de Abril). Textos Universitários de Ciências Sociais e Humanas. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1996
- Fernando Ruivo and Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, Comunidade e Antropologia Jurídica em Jorge Dias: Vilarinho da Furna e Rio de Onor, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais. 10: 41-87, 1982
- João Rosado Correia, Vilarinho da Furna - Paisagem em Transformação, Lic thesis, Escola de Belas-Artes do Porto, 1971.
- Gladys Novaes, Vilarinho da Furna - De Aldeia a Albufeira, Lic. Thesis, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Política Ultramarina, 1973