Barcelos – A Living museum of traditions and popular art

One of the main activities in Barcelos is handicrafts. Here is the main centre of Portugal’s craftsmanship. The most authentic, rich and varied masterpieces are created in the hands of the people of Barcelos.
Any person that visits Barcelos will notice the influence of this kind of art. All the area is enriched with workshops where people can see and buy different craftworks. The umber of visitors is uncountable. The come to these places to see the craftspeople that create a fine piece of workmanship with unique beauty in a few moments.
In ceramic (one of these kinds of art), figures are modelled by hand, painted with lively colours and glazed. It’s considered one of the special expressions of the Portuguese popular creativity. The craftsman tries to transpose daily tasks into the clay and this art has acquired a social satirical function.
Pieces with ornament and figurative painting, representing a part of the history of Barcelos can strike you. The greatest example of this is the Barcelos cockerel that became not only the symbol of Barcelos, but also of Portugal. All over the city we can find different examples of this cockerel, each one painted in a different way, making the city more beautiful and the result of our history and traditions.
Besides ceramic there are also metal works, weaving and wooden ware.
The weekly street market that takes pace on Thursdays and the yearly handcrafts fair are a mirror of this colourful universe of fantasy and popular imagination.

The Barcelos Cockerel.

Metal works.

Typical mat.

Wooden ware.

Ceramics.

Posted by: Filipa

Wine as a Tradition

Portugal is located on the North Atlantic coast but it is Mediterranean in tradition and climate. It is one of the most important European wine producers.
A lot of Portuguese wines are exported and their quality is internationally known, like for example Port wine. In Autumn people pick the grapes. In districts like Douro hundreds of people are hired to pick grapes in every field and slope. However, all over the country producers of small fields grow their vines and when the grapes are ripe they bring their family and friends together and everybody goes into the fields to pick grapes.
Nowadays this tradition is no longer as it used to be but in some places, like in Minho, in the North region of the country, there are still people keeping up the custom.
Mainly old people have containers and other instruments to prepare the wine. After people have picked the grapes, they are put in something like a special container and there they will ferment or, if there are many grapes, men and women crush them with their feet. The result is wine for all the family and friends for one year.
Will this tradition disappear? Will young people keep up the costume? I really don’t think so.

A woman picking grapes

A family vineyard

Barcelos: A council with deep roots in the past

Barcelos is the council with the largest number of villages in Portugal: 89. However, in most of them, traditional agriculture is still an important economic activity. For some farmers it is not only about subsisting but the delight that working the land gives them.Peeling the leaves off the cob is a traditional farming activity. The neighbours meet on a large threshing floor where they peel the leaves off the cobs of the corn that they have cultivated. After that process has been completed, the men beat the cobs to strip the corn grains off the cobs, while the women sweep the scattered grains and pick it up into containers. Throughout all this process, they sing, dance, tell stories and also gossip… There is a funny custom in this operation: the young man or woman who peels the leaves off the red corn cob can kiss every single girl or boy in there. In the end they all have a common meal with roasted corn, home-made cakes and grills.The modern-day recovery of the traditional stripping process is a good idea for the people who want to keep the past alive.

Red corn cobs

Women stripping the corn off the cobs

The final product

The community meal

Everybody joins the traditional spirit

Text and photos by Flávia Martins (Portugal)

Paços dos Condes de Barcelos – The Palace of the Earls of Barcelos

This gothic style palace, now in ruins, was built in the 15th century by order of the Earl D. Afonso in the city of Barcelos.
There was a time when this construction was the richest and most valuable in the city, although, because of the Earthquake that happened in 1755 in Lisbon (capital of Portugal), a great part of the building, mostly the towers, was damaged. In 1872, the council of Barcelos ordered the pulling down of what was left of it. But, because of the citizens’ protests, that demolition was never finished.
However, it’s not possible to see the real beauty of this palace now, according to the older population.
This Piety was classified as a National Monument in 1910 and, nowadays, it hosts the Archaeological Museum of Barcelos.

What's left of the Paços dos Condes

View of the city from the palace

Barcelos: The Third Youngest Portuguese City

Written by Ricardo, Sílvia and Nelson

Barcelos is medium-size town located in the north of Portugal, in the Minho Region. It’s the district with most villages in Portugal: 89. It has 124 468 inhabitants and a high population density – 327,9 hab/km - according to the latest projections, of which 20 625 live into the town. It has the third highest percentage of young people in Portugal. The number of people between 0-14 is 17,9%, and between 15-24 it’s 14,2% of its population.

These are big figures for a country whose birth rate is decreasing. Moreover, it is remarkable, when people go there. The town itself is always full of teens and the reason is that it has three secondary schools, besides of all the junior highs schools it has in its villages. All the three secondary schools are located in the heart of the town and have about 5000 students together, and many of them don’t even live in the town. They come from the urbanized villages around it everyday by bus or train. Besides that, there is also a small university, which is a big step for a town that’s not even one of the most important ones in the country. This reflects how Barcelos is still young. Has Elazig got lots of students, too?

However, Barcelos hasn’t many places where teenagers can hang out. That’s why in the weekends many teens go out to other nearby cities that have more infrastructures where to go, such as bigger shopping centers. In fact there are an huge amount of things that Barcelos could take advantage of, like the riverside, that’s obviously forgotten, and its population, of course. With a high youth rate they could allow the construction of some other leisure and entertainment buildings. What about leisure places there, in your city?

Barcelos may not be a big town, though it’s possible to see people from different races and different countries here. The Chinese shops are everywhere in the town. But we can see this better if we go to the popular street-market on Thursdays. Some of the sellers are gypsies and they sell most. Cultural differences aren’t a conflicting factor here. People live peacefully. Has Elazig great differences among people, cultures or lifestyles? Is it a problem or do you live peacefully?