CABANAS DE VIRIATO
40° 29' N; 7° 59' W
Cabanas de Viriato is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Carregal do Sal, with an area of 21.47 km² and 1457 inhabitants (2021). Its population density is 67.9 inhabitants/km².
History
It was part of the municipality of Oliveira do Conde until its extinction in 1836.
Its name was just Cabanas, having been added "de Viriato" in 1970.
In 1930, he was Administrator of the Council and Mayor of Carregal do Sal, Dr. Anacleto de Soveral Soares de Albergaria, whom the people of the parish ordered to build a bronze bust.
parish places
Cabanas de Viriato (Parish Headquarters)
laceiras
Laceiras is a small village located about 3 km from the parish seat (Cabanas de Viriato) and 10 km from the county seat (Carregal do Sal); with markedly rural features, with most of its houses and streets presenting a traditional Beira granite feature, which is a sign of its antiquity. This village has a population of around 180 inhabitants, which more than doubles in the summer, when emigrants arrive, mainly from France. There are two chapels in the village, São Tiago and Senhora dos Milagres, the latter being the most important, founded by Father Domingos Gomes in 1680. In 1988, it received the name of Marian Sanctuary. It is located in the highest part of the village, on the slope called Lomba de São Tiago and where, right in front of it, you can enjoy the spectacular landscape of Serra da Estrela, at the same time as the surrounding park. from the Chapel you can have picnics or other activities, and spend some moments of tranquility and contact with nature. The other chapel, smaller and dedicated to São Tiago, is located on the main street of the village. This chapel was once (before the construction of the Chapel of Senhora dos Milagres) the main religious temple of the village, but, with the foundation of the Capela da Senhora dos Milagres, it lost not only some of its importance, but was also being remodeled and decreasing in size. . On the surrounding walls of this temple there is a stone with enigmatic writings that are thought to be from medieval times, when it was built. On the 15th of August, there is a festival in honor of Senhora dos Milagres, which is one of the best-known religious manifestations in the District of Viseu and where several thousand pilgrims come from all over the country and abroad, being an important touristic and religious poster of this region. Throughout that day, alongside religious manifestations, there is a cultural afternoon, usually filled with popular music groups and folkloric groups and also the traditional annual fair, which provides a special color to this festival or religious manifestation. there are also several altar stones (Altar Stones), some of beautiful cutouts, and the small Altar-Chapel of Senhor das Almas (which formed part of a Via Sacra type route made up of nine other chapels dedicated to various apostles such as São João or São Pedro, but which were destroyed in the fifties of the last century). Locally known figures, morgado.
Prominent figures
Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the famous Portuguese diplomat, consul in Bordeaux in 1940, who saved the lives of tens of thousands of people, is undoubtedly one of the most dignified figures to have been born in Cabanas de Viriato.
Patrimony
House of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, also known as Casa do Passal
Fundo da Vila House
House of Casainhos or House of Silvério Lobo
Pateira's House
Solar Pinto de Campos in Laceiras:
Sanctuary of Senhora dos Milagres, Laceiras;
Sites with graves excavated in the rock: Campa da Moira, Passal,
Quinta da Sernada, Trás-do-Cemitério/Tapada.
