Situated in a municipality of Montalegre, Pitões das Júnias is set in a more magical rural setting of the Peneda-Gerês National Park and is a village full of identity that prides itself on its ancestry, traditions and history. Much of the responsibility of this magic lies in the mountains that rise around and provide one of the most bucolic frames of these corners of our Portugal. It's land of magnificent mountains, riddles, legends and mysteries.
The village is quiet but those who live here do not get sick. These people are said to be fierce and resisted the Castilian onslaughts with claw. Only the castle or the monastery did not resist. The ancestral republic, the rule of community rules by which the Pythonians ruled, is probably the most valuable socioeconomic heritage that has left us all.
In addition to being a village with medieval features, with stone buildings, with hills and valleys to serve as a backdrop, this village has a closely guarded secret - the abandoned Santa Maria das Júnias Monastery in a secluded valley , by a stream.
The origin of this ancient monastery, classified as a national monument, dates back to the year 1147. The first inhabitants were the monks of the Order of St. Benedict. These monks lived in isolation, as custom dictated, and depended on pastoralism.
It is a beautiful place where peace can still be appreciated today and where the only noise is nature.
The "meadows of lime" are called meadows where water flows continuously through them, forming a kind of thin blade. This type of irrigation allows maintaining a temperature in the meadows that prevents the formation of ice in the winter, thus being a strategy of land use well adapted to the weather conditions. Locally, it is said that the lime water these meadows, hence the name.
Situated almost at the end of the picturesque village of Pitões das Júnias, this beautiful waterfall is one of many in the Barroso region, supplied by the white waters that pass through the Santa Maria das Júnias Monastery.
The majestic falling waters come from the Ribeira de Pitões, which due to the unevenness of the terrain develops by several levels, the first being about 30 meters high, followed by several others.
The water flows into a beautiful lake bounded by granite outcrops, in the company of a charismatic centenary Carvalho where, legend has it, inhabits an elf.
To get to the waterfall just go to Pitões and head for the waterfall access car park, followed by a small pedestrian path with about 600 meters, and part in a bridge and wooden bridge.
