Fossilized structures related with activities such as feeding, locomotion, reproduction, the ichnofossils of Pereiró are witness of life in the Ordovician period, about 470 million years ago at the bottom of the ocean. The signs here present are of great importance at national level, with a great diversity of icnoespecies, highlighted by the prominent marks of the cruzianas, structures related mainly with the locomotion. These invertebrates dwelt marine environments up to 200 meters deep. Also here are the “ripples”, marks left by the waves, observable in various areas of stratification.
The Paiva river, from its source, in the Leomil mountains, to its outfall, in the place of Castelo, houses natural values of high importance. The exceptional quartzite layers present in the Paiva’s seated valleys, due to its layout, remember old libraries called “Paiva’s libraries”. These seated valleys shelter a diverse thermophile vegetation as the strawberry tree, the furry macerovia, the mediterranean fleabane or myrtle. Many of these species are traces of Tertiary’s subtropical vegetation which found in these corner conditions to survive through the hard times of glaciers. The fauna in Paiva river is rich with fish such as trout, portuguese nase and the iberian chub or birds like the white-throated dipper, the common kingfisher, the great cormorant or the grey heron. Its herpetofauna includes the iberian frog, common toads, the marbled newt and the viperine water snake. About invertebrates we can observe the beautiful and the fast river cruisers dragonfly considered by many the rarest in Europe.
Belonging to the parish of Cabril (Castro Daire) and overlooking the river, the small village of Pereiró hides among the meanders of the Paiva river. This traditional architecture reflects the geology of the region, using schist as dominant raw material.
