Vilarinho's Foal

Category: Civil Architecture > Wolf Pit

District: Braga > Terras de Bouro > Campo do Gerês > Vilarinho

Location

The Fojo de Vilarinho is located in the picturesque village of Vilarinho, part of the parish of Campo do Gerês, in the municipality of Terras de Bouro, district of Braga. This point of interest is deeply rooted in the natural landscape of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, proving to be a striking example of human intervention in a challenging mountainous environment.

Its location allows visitors to observe the harmonious fusion between the structure and the surrounding wild environment, offering a perspective on the solutions developed by local communities over time for coexisting with the mountain fauna.

The Ancestral Engineering of the Trap

The Fojo de Vilarinho is a remarkable testament to popular engineering and human ingenuity in adapting to the environment. It is a structure specifically designed to function as a trap, once used to capture wolves.

Its unique construction is characterized by having converging walls, that is, a design that widens at the entrance and gradually narrows as it deepens. This ingenious shape made it difficult for animals to escape once they fell inside, making it effective in its primary function of protecting herds and rural communities.

The existence of this fojo highlights the complex and often challenging relationship between man and the wild nature that inhabits these parts.

Cultural and Historical Legacy

More than just a simple structure, the Fojo de Vilarinho represents a valuable cultural and historical legacy of Terras de Bouro.

It symbolizes the resilience and innovative capacity of the mountain populations, who, with the available resources, created lasting solutions for daily problems and for defending their subsistence. Visiting it offers a window into ancestral land management practices and how communities interacted with local wildlife.

It is an opportunity to better understand the history and identity of the Gerês region, where human and wild life have always coexisted intrinsically.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt