As part of our commitment to promoting the Góis region, the Góis Real Estate Company and Professor João Alves Simões are currently engaged in researching and recording historic sites and the history of the region.
Historically this region has been underestimated and largely ignored by prominent historians. By pooling expertise, and with the additional support given by the Góis Câmara Municipal, particularly by the President, we are working to change this situation.

N.B. All material on this website, both text and images, are subject to © Copyright.

The key to the Góis region’s wealth in Prehistoric times is found in the large gold deposits of the region. The evidence from the Neolithic period provided by artefacts accompanying burials, suggests that the Neolithic inhabitants of this region were trading throughout Europe and obtaining very high status objects to accompany their burials. The trading material is thought to have been the local gold.

In one of the caves in the hills above Libereiro were found two stone axes from the Neolithic period, thought to have been used to extract the gold. These are now on display in Lisbon. It is also probable that the Neolithic communities in the region were permanent, as suggested by the apparent discovery of burial mounds in the region.

We are currently working to substantiate the hypothesis that the mound overlooking the town of Góis, known as Castelo (“the castle”) is in fact a late Neolithic/early Bronze Age burial mound. It appears that the chapel was built upon the mound in the 16th Century. There exists a local story about a tunnel going under the river, from the chapel to the Igreja de Matriz, which is in fact unlikely, as the valley bottom is made up of large boulders and would flood. It is more likely that the tunnel is the passage of the burial mound. In the 1970’s, landscaping work on the site discovered a short passage into the mound, but this was subsequently covered over.

In 1973 an employee of a local contractor, working to improve the road to Pena, discovered a bronze axe. On informing his colleagues, they confirmed that they too had seen several other axes, but these had been put through the ‘crusher’ with a large mound of stones that they had removed from the side of the road, to use as road material. It is believed that this mound was, in fact, an early Bronze Age burial from approximately 2500B.C. The axe is still in the ownership of the person who found it, who kindly gave us permission to photograph it.

The region of Góis boasts many examples of this ancient art-form. Pedra Letreira is probably the most spectacular, although there are three more stones near Mestras. There are several theories as to the age of the stones, but they are most likely to be from between 6000B.C. and 2000B.C. Unfortunately, it is believed that many of these stones have been lost, as the sites chosen are naturally occurring outcrops of flat rock, ideal for the quarrying of building materials. There is a local story that says there are more ‘stones with pictures’ in the walls of the old houses than are left on the hillside.
If you wish to visit these sites, they are best viewed when the sun is low, in the evening. At this time the surface of the stone comes to life, revealing all the pictures in the rock’s surface.

N.B. If you are visiting the petroglyphs, please take care not to cause any damage to the site.

The Romans extended their empire to the region in the 3rd Century BC, and remained until they were transplanted by invading German tribes in the 5th Century AD. It is becoming apparent that Góis may have been of vital importance to the Roman Empire  in Iberia  because of its huge gold deposits, as gold could be made into coinage for payment of the troops.
There are many Roman gold mines in the region, including one mine near Albergaria, in which was found, by the British mining engineer Stanley Mitchell in the 1940’s, a skeleton accompanied by several Roman coins. The town of Góis may be built on top of a Roman villa/town, as today it is still possible to see architectural stone and columns in the buildings around Góis, which may have originated from high-status Roman buildings.
The gold-mining required water to process the rock and extract the gold. There is evidence of  an aqueduct over 14km in length to bring water from the River Ceira above Colmeal, to the hills above Góis. This would have been a colossal undertaking, showing the extent of the Roman investment in the region.

Our research, recording physical evidence, local knowledge and information from road excavations in the Góis region, is enabling us to announce the finding of a military road passing through the town of Góis. The best-preserved section of this road, to the south-west of Góis, shows the superb construction, and in places the full width of the road at 4m. The road is divided by a row of cobbling to mark the centre, and on the gradient the road is marked by lateral stones, set at a large stride’s distance apart. It is believed that these lines enabled the Roman soldiers to maintain a correct distance from each other while marching up the steep sections of the road.

For over 1km it is still possible to walk on the original road surface, which was, until the 1960’s, used as a public road, and was the route taken by coffin-bearers bringing deceased members of the community for burial at Góis. Along this section of the road there are the ruins of two tavernas, where at the time it was the custom for the coffin-bearers to lay down the coffin while they took refreshment in the form of aguadente (the local firewater). As it was customary to stop at every taverna en route, coffin-bearers travelling from a distant village would arrive in the town somewhat worse for drink!

In addition to the road, there is evidence around Góis of Roman cultivation and irrigation systems. A number of Roman coins have been found over the years.

During the coming year, we hope to confirm the existence of a Roman military fort to the west of Góis, by combining archive material, aerial photography and circumstantial fact. The site under investigation is notable for its proximity to the Roman road, the fact that it would be day’s march from Conimbriga (an important Roman city) and half a day’s march from the military villa at Arganil.
In the light of these investigations it is very probable that Góis will soon be able to boast the presence of an historically valuable Roman site.

Not much is known about the time from when the Romans left the area in the early 5th Century AD to the tender mercies of the Suevi, an invading Germanic tribe, and subsequently the Visigoths from the north of Europe. But it is known that the name “Gois” derives from the Germanic name of “Goes”. (Inhabitants of present-day Gois are still known as “Goense”). This suggests that this region was also very important to the new colonizers, although little evidence has yet been discovered of their contribution to the area.

Muslim Moors (mainly Berber with some Arab) took advantage of Visigothic disorganisation in the 8th Century AD and invaded the Iberian peninsular, notably settling in Andalusia, but extending their control to cover most of present-day Spain and Portugal. Coimbra was taken in 715 AD. It is recorded that in 791AD, as part of the “Reconquista,” Alfonso II conquered and settled the lands “south of the Douro”, but it is unlikely that this extended to include the Góis region. It would appear that the region of Coimbra went back and forth between Moor and Christian during the 9th Century until it was finally made part of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in 878 AD.