The Paradela’s waterway is a remarkable work that leads the water from Varoso river to Paradela’s fields, 3 km away. Next to the waterway, a pedestrian path provides a ride that resembles the famous Madeira’s waterways. This one has its beginnings in a river turn around the promontory where was built in the twelfth century, the convent of São Cristóvão de Lafões, of the Cistercian order. The convent was restored in the eighteenth century and in 2010 was classified as Monument of Public Interest. The talent of the monks is here present by the Royal Waters aqueduct, which supplied water to the monastery. On its slopes, a magnificent forest develops with species such as cork oak, the strawberry tree, the bay laurel, the hazel, the laurestine, the solomon’s seal, the three bird toadflax and the tutsan, revealing a clear affinity with the Madeira’s laurissilva forest. Between the foliage, rare lesser purple emperor and white admiral butterflies can be contemplated with their superb colors.
