Ferraria de São João (Penela)

The Municipality of Penela has a population of about 5,983 inhabitants. It is located in the district of Coimbra, in the Region Centro of Portugal.
Ferraria de São João is a schist village located in this municipality, with a remote location on the top of a mountain. It has 43 inhabitants, of which only 9% are aged under 20 years. It offers a high quality of life to its inhabitants. Apart from the exceptional features related to the environmental and built heritage, it provides access to health, education, culture and leisure due to the proximity to the town of Penela and the city of Coimbra (at a distance of 15 and 39 Km, respectively). In addition, it has a local community that, although aging, takes a very active role in the decisions-making process towards the village’s development. In the last years, it has registered an increasing investment in the tourism and agriculture sectors

Country

Portugal

Type

mountains, remote

Degree of urbanization

rural

population of 43

Check out the village strategy:

VILLAGE STRATEGY

Village Solutions

Ferraria Live Village

(i) to preserve the local identity; (ii) to stimulate the self-esteem of the populations, and (iii) to promote the development of the local economy and the quality of life of the inhabitants. This Plan was conceived with the double objective of recovering and revitalizing the urban area of the village, and its integration in the Program for the Economic Valorization of Endogenous Resources (PROVERE) - Schist Villages

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