Full article about Muxagata: bell, chanfana & wild asparagus
Muxagata (Vila Nova de Foz Côa) rings a 1609 bell, serves chanfana in a front-parlour café and hides wild asparagus in stone-watered plots—walk, taste, sta
Hide article Read full article
Muxagata
A 1609 bell still splits the air at 07:30 and 11:00. If it catches you mid-coffee, it’s Sunday and the single-aisled Igreja de São Tiago is filling up. Arrive fifteen minutes early and you’ll find the original azulejos behind the altar – powder-blue glaze untouched by restorers – and worshippers on plank benches; no chairs, no cushions, no fuss.
Village life ends – or begins – at the 1732 granite calvary. Below it, the lane drops to the Ribeiro de Muxagata; above, a cobbled track climbs to walled vegetable plots watered year-round by stone channels. Walk the beds at dawn in March and you’ll spot wild asparagus. Ask first; no one refuses, they simply like to know who’s picking lunch.
Where to eat
The only public dining room is the front parlour of Dona Lurdes’ house. Chanfana – goat stewed in red wine – hits the table at 13:00 sharp at weekends, but only if you telephone first (279 764 XXX). She cooks to the number of reserved places; arrive unannounced and the pot stays shut. If the asparagus is up, migas – breadcrumbs sautéed with spears – appear without asking. Coffee is included; payment is cash in an enamel dish.
With self-catering, buy produce from the garden gates: Portuguese kale €1 a bundle, new potatoes 80¢ a kilo. Leave coins in the plastic cup. For wine, walk behind the church to the community adega: €3 refills a one-litre bottle; bring your own.
Walking
The Caminho da Veiga starts at the calvary and loops 6 km across scrubland and almond terraces. No waymarks – follow the yellow ribbon on electricity poles – and allow 90 min return. The chapel of São Sebastião is kept locked; knock at the next house for Sr Armindo and he’ll lend the iron key.
The Côa Valley rock-art centre is an eight-kilometre drive. Guided visits leave at 10:00 and 14:00, book online or at Foz Côa tourist office; last entry one hour before sunset.
Festivals
Easter Sunday: procession at 10:00, village feast from 15:00. Roast lamb €12 a portion, sold from the parish association tent. August: open-air cinema in the main square at 21:30, bring a chair. Magusto, 11 November: bonfire lit at 18:00, free chestnuts; rain transfers the party to the primary-school gym.
Essentials
Nearest pharmacy: 12 km, Foz Côa. Rural clinic open Monday & Thursday 14:00-17:00. Fuel only in Vila Nova de Foz Côa. No ATM; withdraw beforehand. The national road to the village is single-track – pull in to let oncoming lorries pass.
When the light fades, mercury lamps click on and conversation stops. By midnight the only soundtrack is the river and, somewhere in the dark, that four-century-old bell counting the hour.