Nature
Poços
Águeda
The water wells, which give the trail its name, can be found along the banks of the Pateira. Some have openings well above the level of the trail, having been built this way to facilitate irrigation of the higher-lying land. The most common devices are known as “Noras”, consisting of a wheel fitted with small containers or buckets, traditionally operated by animal power.
Cows or oxen would walk in a circle around the well or an axle, generally in a clockwise direction, activating the system that moved the buckets between the bottom of the well and the surface: they descended empty and returned full, pouring the water into a channel when they reached the highest point of the well. Along the trail, several types of wells and water-lifting devices can be found which, although rusty, bear witness to the techniques once used.
Cows or oxen would walk in a circle around the well or an axle, generally in a clockwise direction, activating the system that moved the buckets between the bottom of the well and the surface: they descended empty and returned full, pouring the water into a channel when they reached the highest point of the well. Along the trail, several types of wells and water-lifting devices can be found which, although rusty, bear witness to the techniques once used.
Poços