Vila Real - Alijó Village | Portugal

Hello everybody :)

I'm back, this time to share some records and topics about the small village of Alijó and in this way, finish this itinerary made through the Alto Douro region, a region well known not only by the inhabitants of this country but also beyond its borders, highlighted due to its unique landscape and the production of Port wine, the most notable feature being the terraces, terraces on hills covered in vineyards, creating a stunning setting, as i have already had the opportunity to share in some of the most recent previous articles and beyond.

This entire region has great cultural and historical importance, and its vineyards are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
But keeping the focus on the locality that i share today, the small village of Alijó belongs to the district of Vila Real, being the seat of the Municipality where it hides many charms to discover.
What has surprised me when i visit some of these more remote corners, somewhat isolated from large population centers, is the state of conservation and preservation in which many of them are found, and Alijó is no exception, and beyond preservation, there is nothing missing there.

The idea we have is that there is some lack of development in these places, but this is not the case. We pass by the hospital, the library, schools, post office, health center, restaurants, municipal swimming pools, market, hotels, everything that is really necessary for our daily lives, in other words, there is no lack of those institutions that could encourage us to change of place, but even so there is some desertification here too, and i believe this is driven by economic reasons that affect all the other more rural places and away from "opportunities".

This is how calm prevails on a hot day and during the weekend, also because the harvest continues and at this time people need to rest.
We started the visit in the center of the town where we were able to observe the traditional stone architecture and the narrow streets that characterize these places so well. The São Mamede Parish Church has an imposing facade, and it was a place we couldn't miss. One of the things that caught our attention was a giant tree, whose name is Árvore Grande "Big Tree", we are talking about a plane tree that is 156 years old, and believe me it is not usual, at least not in Portugal, to find a tree of this size in the middle of a village.

We continued walking and came across an avenue with a garden near the market, overlooking a beautiful park, very well maintained but once again empty. It's incredible how in big cities, in few places we can find silence. Here we can have that peace, almost anywhere, the practice of slow living is a winning bet in the interior of the country and i increasingly believe that this is a benefit for those who can benefit from it. There is no traffic, no streets full of people, terraces with space for everyone and in the gardens we can hear the birds.

I was already imagining us reading a book, the girl playing in the park and without the worry of having to constantly watch her. How delightful!
We calmly continued our visit and in the center of the town we found a monument that perfectly characterizes all these towns and villages, the Douro Man, who as you can see, is a man with a fully loaded harvest basket following his path towards the mills.

Nowadays, that entire purely cultural process, from harvesting to wine tasting, has become an experience for tourists and has, in a way, boosted the local economy, what is a good thing.
And with this article i finish this script, i hope you liked it.

Photo by @aleister
Camera - Samsung SM-A528B
Camera - Canon EOS 600D
Lens - EFS 18-55mm / 70-300mm
Location - Portugal

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Value your time, because every fraction counts, and the price of anything is the amount of life you trade for it.
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