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.

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

PROPOSTA 1 DE 4 · Read the landscape through the plants

Try observing

Common names used in the source

Strawberry tree, carqueja and gorse

Strawberry tree, carqueja, gorse and honeysuckle appear in the municipality’s description of mountain vegetation. The source also links upland scrub to grazing goats, cattle and sheep, distinguishing it from cultivated pasture lower down. Scrub is therefore part of a landscape of plants, animals and work. These common names are starting points for learning about vegetation, not identifications of every plant you encounter. The municipal account relates this vegetation to changing land use: it mentions the partial replacement of oaks, chestnuts and scrub by maritime pine. Reading the landscape therefore also means asking what was planted and what changed. One green patch may hold stories of grazing, cultivation and forestry. Start by choosing a detail in the next stories: a carqueja stem, gorse spines, the strawberry tree’s flowers and fruits, or honeysuckle’s place at the woodland edge. Each question brings you closer without requiring you to identify every plant already.

Vamos experimentar?

1. In a landscape design, use different symbols for trees, shrubs and fields.
2. Compare the spots: where you find continuity and where there are intervals? You can do the exercise from a photograph.
3. Choose one of the plans of this story and open the related reading to discover a detail.

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

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• Municipality — landscape and vegetationConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07
• Municipality — landscape heritage: vegetation, agriculture and pastoral careConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

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

PROPOSTA 2 DE 4 · 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

• Municipality — Gondiães e Vilar de Cunhas, landscape, heritage and craftsConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

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

PROPOSTA 3 DE 4 · 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

• Archdiocese of Braga — renewal of Lady of Amparo, news of 06/10/2025Consultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

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

PROPOSTA 4 DE 4 · Life you do not always see

Compare two faces

Badger · general biology

A home beneath the ground

The European badger, Meles meles, is mainly nocturnal and shelters in extensive underground setts. Two dark stripes on a white head are a striking visual clue; its short legs have strong claws. Museu Virtual da Biodiversidade describes its presence in woods, forests and farmland with vegetation. This profile explains the species in mainland Portugal; it does not document an observation in Cabeceiras de Basto. The claws are long and non-retractile: they do not draw back like a cat’s. A short, pale tail provides another contrast with a fox’s long tail. These details help compare descriptions without searching for or disturbing setts.

Vamos experimentar?

1. In the photograph, it follows the light and dark bands of the head and the contour of the body.
2. Compare the text with the image: the description of the claws and the den goes beyond what this framework shows.
3. Open the otter story and compare the snouts in the two photographs, keeping the contexts of each park separate.

The badger was photographed at the British Wildlife Centre in the UK. A daylight photograph in a park does not invalidate the description of the species' mostly nocturnal habits.

Open a história e os seus recursos →

Sources of this proposal

• University of Évora — Virtual Museum of Biodiversity: Meles melesConsultation/revision: 2026-11-07

My findings

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