Candal is 10 km from Lousã. The village is situated on the western slope of the Lousã Mountain, almost at the bottom of a large shell shape formed by the slopes that begin on the main line of mountain ridges. In the river basin of the Ribeira de São João nestles this natural amphitheatre housing Candal and its river. Most buildings in the village are sited on the east-facing slope. Others are arranged along the other slopes, all converging to the same point where the watercourses also are. Here the village is skirted by the main highway, with the houses built in a row on its upstream side.

Candal is crossed by the EN236, which has opened other opportunities for the village since this road connects Lousã to the highest point of the Serra (Trevim, 1204 metres).

Candal is included in the Lousã Mountain Site of Community Importance of the Natura 2000 Network. We often encounter deer even at the entrance to the village. On entering the village we pass over a wooden bridge crossing a small stream. However, from the valley at the bottom of the village rises the tumultuous sound of rushing water. Like part of a Christmas crib set on the south and west facing slope of the mountain, the village of Cerdeira spontaneously took on the appearance of an amphitheatre intersected by the meandering channel of a stream. This is the Ribeira da Cerdeira, which carries away the waters that pour down the higher western slopes of the Serra da Lousã.

The movement of the water seems to give life to the village, establishing an intimate relationship with the watercourse along which several watermills and irrigation systems have been installed. Through here race the waters that fall on Trevim on their journey to join the Ribeira de São João, the river Arouce, the river Ceira and the river Mondego.

In general, the history of this village is similar to the histories of the other four Schist Villages in Lousã municipality. Permanent settlement of the villages of the Lousã Mountain occurred in the second half of the 17th century or beginning of the 18th. Until then, occupation was only seasonal, in the spring and summer, with pastoralism practices. What is certain is that Candal is a typical example of the appropriation of territory by man. In a clear attempt to adapt to the uneven ground, the arrangement of the buildings followed a logical method in order to ensure exposure to the sun and ease of access.

The “Register of the population of the Kingdom (1527)” mentions none of these villages in its entry for Lousã. The oldest documents that point to their occupation are a fine imposed by Lousã Council in 1679 and the register of tenant properties ordered by King Pedro II in 1687. At the beginning of the 19th century only Candal and Cerdeira escaped pillaging by the Napoleonic army. In 1885 the population of the seven villages (the five Schist Villages, plus Catarredor and Vaqueirinho) corresponded to 8.7% of the total population of the parish of Lousã (5340 inhabitants).

As for Candal itself, in 1911 the village had 129 inhabitants. Emigration to the USA began in the 1920s, but even so, in 1940 the village reached its maximum population of 201 inhabitants. Around this time, the village had two herds of goats and sheep, totalling 1200 head. The population was occupied in pastoralism, coal production and subsistence agriculture. These were followed by occupations such as planters during the afforestation of the mountains and road menders.

A little higher up is the village of Candal, in the gloomy poverty typical of small mountain villages - two dozen cottages built from schist offcuts. (…) The inhabitants are shepherds, charcoal burners, Forest Service tree planters, road menders, and mainly farmers of the narrow cultivated strip fields on terraces where, by dint of sheer stubbornness, they plant half a dozen cabbages or sow two handfuls of rye, and which often disappear in a night of heavy rain.”
Silva Teles in “Guia de Portugal - Beira Litoral, Beira Baixa, Beira Alta” (1944)

In the 1950s and 1960s many Candal inhabitants left for Brazil. In 1958 the village celebrated the arrival of the first telephony, which was battery operated. The 1960 census showed a sharp decline in the population of the villages, which now represented only 4.2% of the total population of the parish of Lousã (8191 inhabitants). And in 1970 they represented only 2.5%.

Electricity only reached Candal in the 1970s, as did the telephone.
In 1976 the first houses began to be bought for restoration as second homes. In 1991 the village only had 15 inhabitants.

Origin of the name
The name Candal may be associated with the art of stone carving. The stonecutters – the men who work the stone - and the stonemasons - who with them built walls and houses - sang as they worked. “Cantar a pedra” (singing the stone) may have evolved into “candar” and thence to Candal, the place where they sing the stone.

The village layout is irregular and complex. The village is built on facing slopes on which the houses are arranged like in an amphitheatre. The only unifying element is the EN236 skirting the bottom of the village. The predominant building material is schist, with unrendered facades giving an unfinished appearance. The row of houses along the highway shows outward signs of greater modernity, with facades rendered and painted in bright colours, but that follow the dominant lines and volumes of the village.

Houses and buildings that once housed the domestic livestock are the most significant buildings.  However, in this village it is the aspect of the architectural ensemble that makes it truly unique, with the uneven shapes of the houses and buildings juxtaposed or even superimposed contributing to a richly diverse landscape.

Apart from houses and buildings that once housed domestic livestock, Candal has no significant buildings. But those that exist have their own history and importance.

Worth a visit:

• Former Primary School
  Built in the 1920s with remittances sent by Candal people who had emigrated to the USA.
• Candal Fountain
  Built on the verge of the EN236, it is graced by a poem:
  Candal Fountain
  Has two foundation stones
  One is for courting
  The other is for passing the time
• Wayside shrine
  This is the only religious structure in the village. It stands in the village square and was built by a Candal family in payment of a promise.
• Watermills
  Five watermills built in the 1920s along the right bank of the Ribeira de Candal used water power to operate the mechanism that ground the grain produced in the village fields.
• Olive press
  An olive press, also using water power from the Ribeira do Candal was built here in 1919. It was recently restored to working condition.
• Public washhouse

• March: Spring Festival
• July: Meeting of mountain people (Santo António da Neve)
• Last Saturday in August: Feast of Our Lady of Prayers - Village festival
• August: Nights on the Threshing Floor (cinema)
• September: Music Festival (3rd edition in 2013)
• December: Christmas in Candal

• Horticultural produce
• Seasonal fruit
• Chestnuts

De Norte e Sul
Na A1 sair em Coimbra. Tome a N17 (Estrada da Beira) e saia na N342, no sentido da Lousã. Chegando à Lousã, seguir pela N236 no sentido de Castanheira de Pera até chegar ao Candal.