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CHOICE · EXPERIMENTARY · TAKE

A notebook.
Your findings.

Up to six proposals of Cabeceiras, in your own order, to do it at home, in company or on a break.

3 de 6 propostas escolhidas · faça-as ao seu ritmo.

PROPOSTA 1 DE 3 · Read the landscape through the plants

Follow the leaf margin

Local observation · Rio Douro · general botany

Not every leaf is equally prickly

Mentioned for Cabreira by Visit Cabeceiras, Ilex aquifolium has evergreen leaves. The Gulbenkian profile describes spiny edges, sometimes smooth on older branches or plants. Red fruits appear on female plants and are toxic. Observe them without picking or tasting them. According to Gulbenkian, flowering generally takes place from April to June; fruits ripen in late summer and can remain through winter. The small white flowers are less conspicuous than the fruits. Holly is dioecious: there are male and female plants. This distinction helps explain why not every plant bears red fruit. It is a slow-growing shrub that can live for more than a century. Gulbenkian describes it in oak woods and scrub, often on shady, damp slopes with slightly acidic soils rich in organic matter. Observing the plant therefore also means looking at its surroundings, as well as its leaf outlines. The photograph by DVG, recorded on 2026-04-03, shows this species in Rio Douro. Open the observation to compare visible details with the botanical description. The record documents that encounter; it does not mean the plant will always be visible in the same place.

Vamos experimentar?

  1. Opens the photograph of Rio Douro and chooses two very visible leaves.
  2. Draw the contour of each one and mark the tips you can distinguish.
  3. Compared to the description: Does this image allow us to conclude that all leaves of all mistletoe have the same outline?

An exploration of the photograph, without collecting plants. The image documents a moment, not all the characteristics of the species.

Open a história e os seus recursos →
Sources of this proposal

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

PROPOSTA 2 DE 3 · Crafts and memories

Compare two portraits of Faia

Faia · sacred art, 2025

Roots and light renew a chapel

Olive-tree roots shaped the new altar and ambo in the chapel of Nossa Senhora do Amparo. The Archdiocese of Braga’s report of 6 October 2025 attributes the work to Atelier Amadeus and describes a refurbishment centred on the altar. A suspended cross forms part of the element called Corpo de Luz. Parish priest Rui Filipe Marques Araújo explained the lighting’s symbolism: groups of lights refer to the Trinity, the Evangelists and the Apostles. The publication also highlights the contribution of artists, technicians, workers and the community. The intervention shows heritage continuing to gain new forms and meanings; the 2025 report does not give visiting hours. The account presents the celebration, presided over by José Cordeiro, as a gathering of Faia with the communities of Arco de Baúlhe and Vila Nune. The choice of roots also receives a religious interpretation: according to the priest, transforming previously discarded material expresses renewal and redemption. This is the symbolic reading attributed to him in the report, distinct from the description of the materials. To understand the work, we can look at both layers: how it was made and the meaning given to it.

Vamos experimentar?

  1. Read the history of the chapels described in 1758 and this reading about the intervention of 2025.
  2. On a sheet, separate what each source describes: location and relationships with the community; materials, light and artistic creation.
  3. Write down a question that remains unanswered. The old reference does not allow dating each part of the current building.

A comparison of sources to make at home; does not require access to the interior of the chapel.

Open a história e os seus recursos →
Sources of this proposal

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

PROPOSTA 3 DE 3 · Travel through time

Try observing

Gondiães and Vilar de Cunhas · memory and landscape

A house with three granaries

At Casa de Chouzas, three 19th-century granaries stand alongside the manor house highlighted by the municipality. The group connects two functions: living and storing the harvest. Rather than looking only at the main house, it is worth recognising the importance of buildings supporting agriculture. The introduction to Vilar de Cunhas places this heritage in a landscape of plateau and mountain, shaped by farming and pastoralism. House and granaries can be read in that working context, although the source does not detail each property’s production. The house’s dating is less firm: the municipality presents it as perhaps 19th-century, while assigning the granaries to the 19th century. That difference should remain visible. The photograph accompanying the reading shows the portal, not the three granaries. The heritage reference does not confirm access to the group.

Vamos experimentar?

  1. Look at the photo of the portal and list only the elements you can see.
  2. Compared to the three granaries mentioned in the text: what depends on the written description?
  3. Imagine a caption that distinguishes the frame of the photograph from the remaining patrimonial set.

An activity to try at your own pace, without collecting specimens.

Open a história e os seus recursos →
Sources of this proposal

My findings

An idea, a drawing or a question to go on.

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