On the northern slope of the Lousã Mountain, where the terrain is deeply incised by small watercourses, Comareira was founded in a sunny position where a gentle slope and irrigation water diverted here allowed subsistence agriculture to develop on the surrounding terraces or cômoros, from which the village takes its name.

Comareira is included in the Lousã Mountain Site of Community Importance, of the Natura 2000 Network. The topography of the area is highly accidented, characterised by mountains, hills and very deep valleys. This landscape, together with its individual microclimate, has permitted the emergence of the region’s unique fauna and flora. The very rich natural heritage surrounding these villages includes in particular the Penedos de Góis and Oitava Forest Park, the habitat of endangered birds and mammals such as red deer and roe deer, which are rarely found elsewhere in Portugal.

The first forms of settlement that are known of in Góis municipality date from the Neolithic or Bronze I period, as proved by the many archaeological remains and finds found to the north of this area. The origin of these villages dates from the Iron Age with the founding of small settlements on the slopes and tops of hills, some of them subsequently abandoned during the Middle Ages.

The origin of these villages dates from the Iron Age with the founding of small settlements on the slopes and tops of hills, some of them subsequently abandoned during the Middle Ages.
To overcome the difficulty of crossing the region, it is said that there was probably a roman or medieval road whose course would have passed through Aigra Velha and Pena, forming part of the trade route from Lisbon to the north, transporting goods such as salt, spices and cloth. Aigra Velha thus played an active role in this customary trade, thereby diversifying its economy that was traditionally linked to agriculture and pastoralism.

Breasting the rise to Aigra Nova we find a block of buildings situated in the village which appears relatively ancient to judge by the nature of their construction and degree of dilapidation, and which marks the start of the community of Aigra Velha.

Origin of the name
It very probably derives from cômoro, combro or cômbaro – meaning a small terrace of land, like those surrounding the village – from which evolved combareira, a term that still echoes today in the memories of the inhabitants, and which finally evolved into Comareira.

The village consists of a small cluster of buildings housing people and domestic livestock. Schist and quartzite are the predominant building materials, although the facades of some buildings are coated with a characteristic roughcast rendering in traditional colours.

All the houses built from schist blocks are built to resist the weather and the passage of time. Arranged in tight clusters, they have two floors: the upper, or first, floor and the ground floor, which would normally house the livestock. However, there are exceptions to this rule and several groups of animal pens were built on the outskirts of each village. In each case one or more of these buildings belonged to the respective house in the community, according to the owner’s property and wealth in head of cattle. The second floor also acted as a storage area where cereals, earthenware jars filled with olive oil, salting boxes for pork and farming implements would be stored. They sometimes even had a small wine cellar with barrels and vats for making wine.

• Horticultural produce
• Eggs
• Kid Goat
• Cheese

De Norte e de Sul
Na A1 sair em Coimbra. Tome a N17 e saia na N342 no sentido da Lousã. Continue em direcção a Góis até encontrar as placas indicativas (à direita) das quatro Aldeias do Xisto.

De Espanha (pela A25)
Na A23 sair em direcção a Fundão-Sul. No Fundão seguir pela N238 em direcção a Silavres. Siga em frente até ao Orvalho. Aí tome a direcção de Pampilhosa da Serra. Apanhe a N2 no sentido de Góis. Continue pela N342 até encontrar (à esquerda) as placas indicativas das quatro Aldeias do Xisto.