A12

Livraria da Pena

Description

The Livraria da Pena (Pena’s library) is accessible from an old passage rightly called “Path of the dead which killed the living one”, and along the stream that leads to Covas do Rio, on a very abrupt 2 miles journey. Living Pena village you cannot miss erected imposing boulders arranged vertically that resemble massive books tight against each other. Each “book” corresponds to a quartzite stratum dating from the Ordovician, about 480 million years ago, and some of them have engraved the ancestor passage of trilobites and other animals in the sands of paleocontinent Gondwana’s shallow margins. These animals left visible tracks that can be observed in stones facing south, forming trace fossils also called ichnofossils.

Natural Patrimony

In the valley connecting the villages of Pena and Covas do Rio grows a great variety of large species, counting more than 20 species of trees and shrubs: common holly, hazel, holm oak, cork oak, pyrenean oak, pedunculate oak, lote tree, walnut, bay laurel, elderberry, black poplar, ash, black alder, white birch, grey willow, Portugal laurel, willow,wild cherry, sweet chestnut, maritime pine, blackthorn, alder buckthorn, common hawthorn and rowan tree form a dense forest that makes difficult the arrival of light to the ground. Along the river there are many species that can be found, such as the gold-striped salamander and the iberian frog. The stinking hellebore is a rare plant in the region, isnhere often found and quartzite arenstill habitat of rupicolous plants, asbangel’s tears and rocky germander.

Cultural Patrimony

The Pena village belongs to the Aldeias de Portugal® (villages of Portugal) network, and is a place with well preserved schist and slate houses, nestled in tight bosom of the valley, and surrounded by green slops and massive cliffs. The legend of the “Path of the dead which killed the living one” tells the story of a coffin, to be transported to the cemetery of Covas do Rio through the very narrow path between the two villages that tilted and on its way down, killed one of the man carrying it.

Localization

Aldeia da Pena

Technical information

  • Level of Dificulty High
  • Type of Route Injured
  • Access Pedestrian Access, Car