The Association

Annual fair stand

In 2006 the owners of almost all houses of Casal de São Simão have created the “Associação Refúgios de Pedra” (The Stone Refuges’ Association). The main objectives were, and still are, the promotion, recovery and preservation of the environmental and cultural heritage not only of the village but also of its neighbourhood in a sustainable way. It also plays an important role as being the messenger of all of the in habitants at official departments such as the Municipality or Tourism Office.

The Association has boosted the tourist promotion of the Schist Villages through the guidance of journalists (from Portugal and abroad) who have come to know the tourism potential of Casal de SãoSimão.

The cleaning of the surrounding of Casal to prevent forest fires in summer has also been a concern, which has been done with the cooperation of all residents.

The opening of the pedestrian walkway connecting Casal de São Simão to Ferrarias de S. João and the Schist Pathway, both routes in the surrounding of Casal, are two projects already completed. The amount of people who travel throughout the year these tracks show that this was a safe bet. The success of these two pathways led the City Hall of Figueiró dos Vinhos to launch two new projects: the pedestrian walkway connecting the mouth of the Stream of Alge to Casal de São Simão, which is almost completed, and another one from the spring to the mouth of stream of Alge that will go throughout all of its length. These two will be part of a Great Route.

The cooperation and presence in some activities promoted by the City Hall of Figueiró dos Vinhos, is a way to participate in the life of the region and also a priority for the Association.

After joining the Schist Villages’network, the village has gone through major changes. The improvement of infrastructure by the City Hall of Figueiró dos Vinhos and the construction of a multipurpose building, consisting of an auditorium, a regional product store and a restaurant have brought new challenges to the village and its inhabitants.

The Association is available for any further inquiries and will appreciate your opinion and suggestions. Please contact us.

]]> http://www.casaldesaosimao.com/the-association/feed/ 0 http://www.casaldesaosimao.com/the-people/ http://www.casaldesaosimao.com/the-people/#comments Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:11:11 +0000 António http://www.casaldesaosimao.com/?p=68

Aunt Lucilia

‘Aunt’ Lucilia, at 97 years old, was the last descendant of those who lived in Casal de São Simão at a time when the people of the community lived off the land. She witnessed the departure of those who were seeking a better life and the decline of the village. Stubbornly, she decided to stay even though she was a widow and alone. We newcomers grew to understand that she had always been a fighter and a strong woman and that nothing had changed even in old age. She lived to see the reconstruction of the village and the coming of a new generation of residents. She always received everyone with open arms, a warm smile and good humour. Although she was taken to hospital in October it seems to us that she is still standing on the balcony of her home, there smiling and ready to open her door and offer a slice of yogurt cake to each of us, a speciality of hers which she made every week to take advantage of the eggs of her chickens.

She will be forever in the memories of those who met her and especially in the hearts of those who have grown to love Casal de São Simão as she did. She left us on the fourth of December, 2011 – a funeral service was held on the next day.

Actually, Casal de S. Simão has 4 full time residents:

• a former French emigrant couple, now retired, owner of a flock of goats that still produces home made cheese;
• and a couple who finally managed to start an old project of changing the urban life of Leiria for the way of living at Casal

At weekends and holidays the village becomes a place full of life, with children’s laugh echoing on the streets again and a fistful of friends cherishing the ancient tradition of sharing the work that allowed to revive this village once more.

There are already 16 houses recovered and about 40 persons directly connected to them. People are from every corner of the country and from any professional activity, gathered by the passion of, once in a while, enjoy a few days in Casal de São Simão.

Saturday morning

Starting the baker's oven

Nowadays, Casal de S. Simão is part of “Aldeias do Xisto” (Schist Villages) Program and great changes have occurred.

Along with the intervention of the Municipality of Figueiró dos Vinhos, the village has now much better infrastructures (electricity, telephone and cable TV pre installation were all put underground), the public light was changed and new “ancient” lamps were installed and a Wireless Internet Hot Spot is planned.

At the entrance of the village, there is a multifunctional building. At the ground floor, a small conference room, a store for handcraft and regional products and the Reception of Casal de Simão Village will be installed.

At the top, a restaurant and an open air cafe will give to all of us and our visitors, the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent panoramic view over the village and surrounding mountains.

A "ghost" house

On the Alge brook, the millstones grind the maize and corn that will be turned into bread on the ancient firewood stoves. One day, tired of so much work, men and women start to leave looking for a better life elsewhere and the village, little by little, became lonely and empty. Time just did its work on the abandoned houses and, one by one, they fell into ruin. The village, once full of life and joy, started to die.

Anibal's friend

It was a ghost village that Anibal Quinta found one day, some years ago. On his job, he regularly drove on the road to Figueiró dos Vinhos and the always sunny old village attracted his attention. He became so curious that one day decided to go there and have a look, having found an almost desert village. From a total of 21 houses, only 4 were still inhabited; all others were just ruins. But he did’nt care, he had just felt under the charm’s spell of the little village.

The passion was so strong that he decided to buy one of the houses at once. He started to rebuild and, full of pride, invited his friends to visit him and the village.

Anibal Quinta

And the spell of Casal de S. Simão spreaded amongst the friends that started to buy and rebuilt. And the friends of friends came and do the same. All together, with their effort and joy, they managed to rebuild the village and now, Casal de S. Simão is proud again and full of projects for the future.

The Yellow Crag

Geologically, Casal de São Simão is close to the border between the coast region where limestones prevail and the inland, mainly constituted by granites, schists and quartzites.

This way, beeing part of the Iberic Old Mountain Range, there are several quartzite outcrops that can be easily seen in the landscape around the village.

The typical example of this rocky formation is the very well known “Fragas de São Simão” (Saint Simon Crag), where the “Ribeira de Alge” (Alge stream) passes through it, giving way to a magnificent panorama, as Raul Proença, a famous Portuguese writer, described is his “Guia de Portugal” (Portugal Guide), first edited in 1927, as “one of the most beautiful places in the Country”.

Other examples of these quartzite formations, less known, but easily and closely watched by those who go through the Pedestrian Path between Ferrarias de São João and Casal de São Simão, are the “Fraga Amarela” (Yelloy Crag) and the “Fraga Vermelha” (Red Crag).

The name of these outcrops came after the colour of the lichens that cover them.

Casal de São Simão

The village itself is located on the edge of a small hill, surrounded by mountains that protect it from the wind.

In the bottom of each slope, runs a stream, Ribeira de Alge (Alge Stream) in the northern valley and Ribeira do Fato (Fato Stream) in the western one, creating some moist, mainly at the sunrise, and a music played by water and stones that can be heard in the quiet nights at Casal de São Simão.

Lousã Montain

Cleaning the surroundings

There are no longer much cultivated areas, except for a few small plots with fruit-trees. There are still quite a few olive trees, remembering the old days when everyone had his own olive oil. Despite all the work to keep the gardens in good order, once or twice a year, the whole village gathers to clean the fences, brushwood and blackberries around it.
Much of the forest around the village relies mostly on eucalyptus and pine trees.

However, a few groves of cork-trees and chestnut-trees can be found, being one of the good reasons to get acquainted with this so nice place. In the near (20Km away), there’s Lousã Mountain with its dense woods from where sometimes a deer or wild boars escapes and get close to the village.

The houses

Most of the houses are made of local stone, quartzite, which has a characteristic yellow, sometimes more grey/ white yellowish tone. Some of them keep features used in the old times such as the rock shelves on the sides of the windows, or the stones on the top of the chimneys. The chapel, mostly in the gothic style, was built in 1458. Later, in 1678, a reception hall was added to receive donations from the faithful.

The worship still goes on and a celebration, in the last sunday of October, takes place every year. There is a fair, where local products are sold by the farmers, such as nuts and chestnuts. Fresh fish (mainly from the local rivers) just grilled can be eaten while tasting the new wine, produced in the neighborhood.