How many villages are part of the Schist Villages?

Consultation of the official portal on 2 October 2026 confirms 28 villages. Coentral Grande, in the municipality of Castanheira de Pera, is the 28th; the integration ceremony took place on 4 July 2025.

Are all the villages built of schist?

No. Schist marks much of the landscape and architecture of the network, but there is diversity of materials, renderings and urban forms. Coentral Grande is a village of granite architecture.

When did the project begin?

The Schist Villages Programme began to be implemented in 2001. ADXTUR, the entity that coordinates the network, was created at the end of 2007. These dates refer to the project, not to the construction of the villages.

How should I organise a first visit?

First choose one of the four territories — Serra da Lousã, Serra do Açor, Zêzere or Tejo-Ocreza — and consult the village entries on the official portal. Confirm access, services and trail conditions for the date of your trip.

Schist Villages (Aldeias do Xisto)

The Schist Villages (Aldeias do Xisto) are a network of 28 villages in the interior of the Centro region, coordinated by ADXTUR — Agência para o Desenvolvimento Turístico das Aldeias do Xisto (Tourism Development Agency of the Schist Villages). The network brings together rural heritage, community life, cultural activities and tourism. The name refers to a stone very present in the territory, but it does not mean that all houses are made of schist, nor that the villages form a single protected ensemble.

Where are the 28 villages?

The ADXTUR presentation and the official directory identify 28 villages, organised into four territorial units. The list below follows the directory as consulted on 5 November 2026. The municipality of each village was confirmed in its entry on the official portal. The coordinates are those of each village’s Wikidata item, rounded to four decimal places. Coentral Grande does not yet have a verifiable Wikidata item of its own, so no coordinates are given for that village.

Village	Municipality	Territory	Coordinates (Wikidata)
Aigra Nova	Góis	Serra da Lousã	40.1203, -8.1542
Aigra Velha	Góis	Serra da Lousã	40.1089, -8.1486
Candal	Lousã	Serra da Lousã	40.0808, -8.2034
Casal de São Simão	Figueiró dos Vinhos	Serra da Lousã	39.9083, -8.3317
Casal Novo	Lousã	Serra da Lousã	40.0922, -8.2357
Cerdeira	Lousã	Serra da Lousã	40.0940, -8.1948
Chiqueiro	Lousã	Serra da Lousã	40.0864, -8.2324
Coentral Grande	Castanheira de Pera	Serra da Lousã	—
Comareira	Góis	Serra da Lousã	40.1272, -8.1531
Ferraria de São João	Penela	Serra da Lousã	39.9738, -8.3234
Gondramaz	Miranda do Corvo	Serra da Lousã	40.0619, -8.2725
Pena	Góis	Serra da Lousã	40.1108, -8.1350
Talasnal	Lousã	Serra da Lousã	40.0917, -8.2257
Aldeia das Dez	Oliveira do Hospital	Serra do Açor	40.2975, -7.8679
Benfeita	Arganil	Serra do Açor	40.2341, -7.9463
Fajão	Pampilhosa da Serra	Serra do Açor	40.1501, -7.9233
Sobral de São Miguel	Covilhã	Serra do Açor	40.2110, -7.7418
Vila Cova de Alva	Arganil	Serra do Açor	40.2832, -7.9423
Álvaro	Oleiros	Zêzere	39.9762, -7.9666
Barroca	Fundão	Zêzere	40.1082, -7.7169
Janeiro de Baixo	Pampilhosa da Serra	Zêzere	40.0471, -7.8042
Janeiro de Cima	Fundão	Zêzere	40.0683, -7.8004
Mosteiro	Pedrógão Grande	Zêzere	39.9373, -8.1845
Pedrógão Pequeno	Sertã	Zêzere	39.9034, -8.1315
Água Formosa	Vila de Rei	Tejo-Ocreza	39.6347, -8.0999
Figueira	Proença-a-Nova	Tejo-Ocreza	39.7522, -7.8531
Martim Branco	Castelo Branco	Tejo-Ocreza	39.9461, -7.6258
Sarzedas	Castelo Branco	Tejo-Ocreza	39.8515, -7.6876

The four territories lie in the interior of the Centro region:

Serra da Lousã, with 13 villages across six municipalities, is the largest. The guide to the Schist Villages of the Serra da Lousã describes each village, from Talasnal and Candal to the villages of Góis, Gondramaz and Coentral Grande.
Serra do Açor brings together five villages in Arganil, Oliveira do Hospital, Pampilhosa da Serra and Covilhã. See the Schist Villages of the Serra do Açor.
Zêzere combines six villages in the municipalities of Fundão, Oleiros, Pampilhosa da Serra, Pedrógão Grande and Sertã. See the Schist Villages of the Zêzere.
Tejo-Ocreza counts four villages in Vila de Rei, Proença-a-Nova and Castelo Branco. See the Schist Villages of Tejo-Ocreza.

Coentral Grande, in the municipality of Castanheira de Pera, is the 28th village. The news item of 7 July 2025 reports the integration ceremony held on the 4th. This update explains why some older references still indicate 27 villages.

And the Serra da Estrela?

None of the network’s four territories is the Serra da Estrela. Some Schist Villages lie in municipalities that also have villages in the Aldeias de Montanha network: Aldeia das Dez, in Oliveira do Hospital, Sobral de São Miguel, in Covilhã, and Barroca and Janeiro de Cima, in Fundão. Even so, the official portal places them in the Serra do Açor and Zêzere territories. The mountain villages of the Estrela are usually found in another network, the Aldeias de Montanha (Mountain Villages), managed by ADIRAM, the Associação de Desenvolvimento Integrado da Rede das Aldeias de Montanha (Integrated Development Association of the Mountain Villages Network). When consulted on 5 November 2026, the website of that network presented itself as a network of 41 villages in the Serra da Estrela and the Serra da Gardunha. These are distinct projects, and membership of one does not exclude membership of the other. For the landscape and pastoralism of the Estrela, see the Serra da Estrela Biosphere Reserve.

Reading the landscape through its buildings

The schist houses, the walls, the watercourses and the work spaces help to understand rural settlement. The shape of the streets and the arrangement of the dwellings respond to the relief and to the activities of each place. It is worth observing these differences rather than looking for a uniform architecture.

Candal, in the Serra da Lousã, offers a concrete example: the houses are spread across the slopes beside the stream; schist predominates, but there are also rendered and painted façades along the road. Mills and an old olive press recall the use of water. Coentral Grande, by contrast, shows a strong presence of granite and a history linked to the snow trade. These examples illustrate a network that includes different landscapes and historical routes.

A programme of recovery and development

The Schist Villages Programme began to be implemented in 2001, with interventions in infrastructure, public spaces and buildings. ADXTUR was created at the end of 2007, continuing the cooperation between public and private entities, companies and communities.

The restoration of the built heritage, handicrafts, artistic creation and tourism services are part of this work. Retaining population and economic activity remains an aim of the project; the existence of the network does not in itself demonstrate that depopulation has ended in every village. The programme’s founding date also does not correspond to the age of the settlements or their houses.

Choosing a visit

For a first trip, choose one territory and a few nearby villages; in the Serra da Lousã, for example, the five villages of the Lousã municipality share the same basin and several walking routes. The official map and village entries help to cross-reference heritage, trails, accommodation and restaurants. Plan around the real access to the village and the route chosen: distance on a map does not replace checking the path.

Before setting out, confirm the opening of services and the access and trail conditions with the responsible entities. Allow time to walk through the inhabited core, to understand the work spaces and to visit local projects, respecting private houses and land.

The network of the Historic Villages of Portugal is another project, with its own selection of localities. Both help to explore the Centro, but membership of a tourism network does not replace consulting the heritage classification of each building or site.

Photograph by Vitor Oliveira, 1 August 2016. Resized for the web. CC BY-SA 2.0.