Introduction
Founded in about 300 BC, the town of Arraiolos grew
around the summit of a hill and spread down the slopes, with
typical low whitewashed houses with a blue trim.
The town is crowned by the 14th-century castle and the great
16th-century "Salvador" Church, surrounded by massive fortified
walls.
It is also worth admiring the marble pillory, the "Misericordia"
Church with 18th-century decorated tiles or the "Chafariz dos
Almocreves", a typical rural fountain which supplied drinking water
to both the population and animals and was also used as a public
washing-tub in the back. But Arraiolos is famous, and deservedly
so, for its dazzling wool carpets which decorate palaces, manors
and houses all over Portugal. Women stitching at colourful wool
rugs, sitting in front of their houses when the weather is good or
by the window in small rooms during Winter, are a usual sight, thus
giving continuity to a craft which probably begun with the Moors as
early as the 12th century and reached its maximum splendour with
the floral designs of the 18th century.
The local Town Hall exhibits a rich variety of carpets from
different periods so that visitors may admire the intricate and
colourful designs.
It is also a task of patience, as even an expert needlewoman
requires about 15 days, working a full eight hours, to embroider
little more than one square metre (10 sq. ft.), so it isn't
surprising that the authentic hand-made Arraiolos carpets and
tapestries are quite expensive.
Embroiderings throughout centuries, the Carpets of
Arraiolos are one of the wrinkled affirmations our people' genius.
They had arrived until us thanks to the laborious hands of
generations of "bordadeiras" that had printed them the best one of
its taste, of its art, with traces of the life of the great
"Alentejo" plain. In the ends of séc. XV, for mandate of D. Manuel
I, the Moorish were banished from the "Mouraria" (Lisbon) and in he
way to the north of Africa and the south of Spain, some families
would come to fix themselves in these lands. With the
particularitity to be skilled craftsmen and face to the good
shelter of the local population, these individuals had dedicated to
the manufacturing of tapestries, whom, dissimulated as new
Christians, would call it: Carpets of Arraiolos. The older
documents relates to the production of these carpets in the village
of Arraiolos as dated of ends of sec. XVI, assuming however that
its implantation dates of more retreating times.
The hunt
1. Go to the published coords. (1) and note the year in
the top of the fountain as ABCD.
Your new coords. will be:
N38º4(A+2).(B-5)(C+4)(D+1)
W07º5(A+7).(B+1)(C+3)(D-7)
Example: If the year is 1827, the coords. are N38º43.368
W07º58.950
2. Go to the place indicated by the new coords. (2) and
note the year near the "Sepulchrum" word as EFGH.
Your new coords. will be:
N38º4(E+2).(F-3)(G-3)(H+3)
W07º5(E+8).(F-8)(G-1)(H+2)
Example: If the year is 1871, the coords. are N38º43.544
W07º59.063
3. Go to the place indicated by the new coords. (3) and
count the steps made up of ancient stone as I.
Your new and final coords. will be:
N38º4(I-2).(I-0)(I+1)(I-1)
W07º5(I+4).(I-2)(I-3)(I-1)
Example: If the steps are 5, the coords. are N38º
43.564 W07º59.324
After the hunt, if You have time, go to N38º42.466 W07º58.970
and see a field with vestiges of some tapirs, accordingly to
this page. You can go by car.
At (2), You can have a good view over the village and the
castle.
Between (2) and (3) You may wish to park your
"cachemobil" near N38º43.420 W07º59.037 and walk. You'll cross
several streets where you can see some small factories of Carpets
of Arraiolos. However, you can drive next to the cache place.
Cache
Content:
- Some gifts and
- Logbook, stash note, pen,
- Documentation in Portuguese and English
Don't forget:
"Cache in, trash out" and
Leave No
Trace
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