/ GRANJA
DO PAIVA
"(...) On the banks of Terras do Demo, this land sometimes has the air of paradise (…).”
AQUILINO RIBEIRO, IN Terras do DEmo
Main Church
Community Oven
Alminhas (small chapels for souls)
Cross
Fountain
HISTORY
Towering over the road that connects Moimenta da Beira to Vila Nova de Paiva, at about 800 m of altitude, lies the graceful Granja do Paiva, whose name comes from its distant condition of having a farm linked to monastic institutions and “its” Paiva that fertilizes its lands.
Welcoming us is the chapel of São Barnabé, the various alminhas and the Calvary, composed of three crosses; the necropolises of Laja Velha and Abrengueira, with their tombs carved into the rock; the fresh and clear water springs; the ancestral granaries and the communal oven where the exquisite bread was baked, as well as the granite landmarks that mark the ancient ownership of property by the University of Coimbra.
Granja do Paiva also has a magnificent traditional architectural heritage, as exemplified by the houses and the various property division walls.
The typical house, built using local raw materials, consists of two floors, with gable roofs, covered with half-round tiles, and quoins and jambs built with large blocks of granite. In the “loja” (ground floor) agricultural products are stored and animals are sheltered, and on the upper floor, accessible by an external stone staircase, the family home is developed.
As for the festivities, and with Nossa Senhora da Corredoura as patron saint, religious liturgies are still present, with São Barnabé being solemnly celebrated every year on June 18, as well as Nossa Senhora, on the holiday of August 15, with an important procession.