Açôr
Ádela
Aldeia Velha
Carrimá
Carvalhal
Coiços
Foz da Cova
Loural
Malhada
Quinta das Águias
Quinta de Belide
Ribeira de Ádela
Ribeiro de Além
Roçaio
Saião
Salgado
Sobral
Soito
Vale de Asna

The village of Salgado is high up on the side of the valley of the Ribeira do Saião, that leads down to the river Ceira. The houses are mainly built of the local xisto stone, along an old road dating back to at least the 15th century. This road used to be very narrow as it made its way to the chapel at Sobral, and until modern times, there was no other access to the village. Behind the village is a spring - ‘o velho chafariz’ - that supplied drinking water to the inhabitants of Salgado, and also the clothes-washing area. Below the village there used to be a mill, but it is now ruined and the access is overgrown. The Casa do Convívio was built in 2006. It is open for special events and during the summer months when people from outside the area, mostly Lisbon, come back for their holidays. On the second weekend of June there is always a community lunch - ‘almoço de convívio -  with music or traditional dance group. There is still an old baking oven in the village, used for baking the traditional ‘broa’ (corn bread).

A woman from the village, Arminda Duarte, told me a personal story from when she was young, that gives a picture of everyday life at that time. She and her brother were about 3 and 5 years old, and their mother needed their help to shell the beans for their meal. They didn’t want to, but their mother insisted. They had to put the cleaned beans on the rug on the floor and the peels into a pot, but some of the peels fell in front of the pot and their mother asked them to pick them up. Being stubborn they objected and threw a tantrum: at this moment, a poor man knocked on the door with his sack to ask for ‘Esmolas’ - some charity money. The man heard the children crying and said: “Quem chora, vai para o saco!” (“Whoever cries goes into the sack!”) The children clung to their mother and hid behind her apron -once the man was gone they started quickly to pick up the peels, and worked without any further argument for the rest of  the afternoon.

(The name ‘Salgado’ translates as ‘salty’ or ‘costly’ – how this relates to the village we would love to know!)