Algares
Amieiros
Amiosinho
Amioso Cimeiro
Amioso do Senhor
Amioso Fundeiro
Boiça
Cabeçadas
Candeia
Caniçal
Carrasqueira
Casal Novo
Chã de Alvares
Cilha Velha
Coelhosa
Corga da Vaca
Cortes
Estevianas
Fonte dos Sapos
Fonte Limpa
Foz de Alvares
Lomba
Madeiros
Mega Cimeira
Mega Fundeira
Milreu
Obrais
Portela do Torgal
Relva da Mó
Roda Cimeira
Roda Fundeira
Simantorta
Telhada
Vale da Fonte
Vale do Laco
Varzina

At the southern extreme of the region is situated the large village of Alvares, 28km from Góis, just off the N2. Alvares was made a town by King Manuel I, and was independent until 1855, when it became a freguesia of Góis. Set at the bottom of a hill in a wooded valley and wrapped around by the Ribeira do Sinbel ,the village consists of smart white-painted houses that gleam in the sunshine, under red tiled roofs. The gardens are well-tended, and the whole village has a sense of being lived in.

On a golden October day, there is an aroma of fermenting grapes in the air, and the huge-girthed poplar trees down by the river are dropping their leaves. The atmosphere is mellow and tranquil, as the inhabitants of the village go quietly about their business, or take time to stop and linger on the old packhorse bridge across the river.

Everyone we meet in the village this day is friendly and helpful to two obvious tourists, particularly the owner of the café down by the river where we stop for coffee and cakes, which she fetches specially for us from the adjoining shop. There are at least two more café’s in the village, and also a Post Office, Internet Space and Multibanco ATM. A market is held in Alvares on the second Sunday of every month.

By the Posto de Medicamentos, where medicines are delivered from the pharmacy in town, we find the Casa do Ferrevro Museum, and although we do not go inside, we are assured that that the key is available from the Junta for anyone who wishes to do so.

Also in the village are a Bombeiros (fire-engine) station, and a large residential home and day-care centre for the elderly, dedicated to São Mateus, the patron saint of the village. São Mateus appears on a plaque at each of the village fonts, in different poems of benediction. Healing powers are attributed to the waters of these fonts.

The church was originally built in 1616 and rebuilt in 1804. It sits a little way up the hill, recently renovated, with a spire and new windows. At the top of the village is the primary school, one of just a few left open in the Góis region.