Piódão: the slate nativity scene hidden in the Serra do Açor

The road to Piódão shows no mercy to the hesitant: narrow, winding, wedged between wooded slopes that filter sunlight even at noon. And then, suddenly, the valley opens and the village appears: hundreds of grey-blue houses terraced on a natural amphitheatre, built from the same schist that forms the mountain, as if the rock had simply decided to become habitation. Piódão, in the Serra do Açor, in central Portugal 95 kilometres from Coimbra, is perhaps the country's most photographed village and at the same time one of its least visited.

Stone and silence

Schist is everywhere: in the walls, the floors, the roofs, the staircases linking the village's levels like a network of veins. The doors and windows, painted cobalt blue or yellow, are the only splashes of colour in this grey-and-green universe. Piódão had no electricity until the 1970s and long remained accessible only on foot or horseback. Today a few dozen residents hold on, some having returned to run small guesthouses and eateries.

What to do and what to eat

The walking path circling the village takes about an hour and climbs to a viewpoint embracing the entire valley. The Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Pranto, its white façade standing out against the grey stone, is the village's gathering point. The kitchen is ruled by truta do rio — river trout grilled with garlic and parsley — caught in the streams of the Serra do Açor, and caldo verde de couves, a cabbage soup that warms cool evenings at altitude.

Getting there and when to go

Piódão is part of the Aldeias Históricas de Portugal, a programme promoting twelve historic villages in central Portugal. Spring, between March and May, is the best season: the mountainsides are covered with yellow broom and the light filtering through chestnut trees creates almost surreal atmospheres. In summer the village stays cool even at midday, thanks to the altitude and the thick forest.