João Amorim, a Portuguese content creator and travel mogul, followed by 128,000 people on Instagram, bought a “half village” in Castro Laboreiro, in the municipality of Melgaço, which he discovered while walking along the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros, to develop a rural tourism project.
“a long time agoThat Joao Amorim, 31, is responsible for Sun Travel followed himAnd I wanted to do the Camino de Santiago, but I was looking for a path”different than usualBecause he is fascinated by nature, namely Peneda Gerais National Park (PNPG), where he usually walks.
“When I discovered Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros I knew it was perfect for my purposesHe told the traveler, who is also a photographer and was born in São João da Madeira, adding that “The desire to do this arose just over a year ago and was realized in the summer of 2022“.
For Joao Amorim,It was a great choice because it’s a very beautiful road“, for example, because of the PNPG, Geira Romana and passing through Castro Laboreiro”We were [João e Marta Durán] Meeting people as we made our way. In Covide we stayed in a very nice lady’s house, in Spain in a boy’s house, because there were no hotels available. We were well received and the people liked us“, Highlights.
And it was in Castro Laborero that was precisely that Geira and Arrieiros Road Guide the flight commander to the new project. “It was not a calculated process. I decided to stop and stay a day to rest and be with Paolo Azevedo, CEO of the company Heaps of laboreroAnd I knew, but not personally. I showed interest in buying a house in the mountains one day and he took us to see villages in the area, but I never imagined I would buyJoao Amorim explains.
However, the village of Varziela, in the federation of the dioceses of Castro Laborero and Lamas de Moro, remained in his memory. “It was one of the places that seemed most special to me: the proximity to the river, the beauty, the waterfalls, the village itself and the medieval bridge really caught my eye.he admits.
New Year’s Eve 2022 in Castro Laborero with his cousins, at his suggestion, will be decisive. Content Builder They wanted to show them the area andLook around and see if there is anything interesting for saleOn the last day of the year they found a house in Varzilla, the next day they contacted the owner and in the middle of the first week of 2023 they closed the deal.
Meanwhile, as they were walking through the village, they saw another banner advertising a house for sale and contacted the real estate agency that posted the ad. For sale appeared in the village of Varziela a group of 10/12 houses. “And so I was born project Village FundFrom one moment to the next, we passed [João, o pai e um primo] From the buyer of a house with four barns, to buyers from half a villageSays Joao Amorim.
Village rural tourism background that it “at a very early stage“. The bonds were signed on Friday, February 24, and the idea was announced the following Sunday, in a video posted to Facebook Sun Travel followed him. “Now it has become necessary to work on the project and find the necessary local partnerships, whether they are individuals, companies or institutions, and move forward as quickly as possible. From a very positive perspective, it will take half a year to design the project and a year to rehabilitate the buildings.he explains.
Varziela village is located near Caminho da Geira and Caminho dos Arrieiros. for this reason, One of Joao Amorim’s ideas.It is a hostel establishment with 6/10 beds“to be installed in parallel.For the most important things and prices corresponding to the quality“From the project to be developed. In this sense, Fundo da Aldeia Rural Tourism “It could make up for the lack of accommodations in the Castro Laboreir areaQ,” he adds.
Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros is one of the best preserved places in the world
The Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros starts at Braga Cathedral and passes through the municipalities of Amares, Terras de Bouro and Melgaço, and enters Galicia via Portela Homem. In the past six years, it has been visited by more than three thousand pilgrims, a third of them in 2022; Mainly from Portugal and Spain, but also from Italy, England, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Brazil, USA, Australia or Holland.
This itinerary was introduced in 2017 in Ribadavia (Galicia) and Braga, recognized by the Church in 2019 and in publications by the Confederation of Transnational Municipalities Eixo Atlântico (2020) and Turismo do Porto e Norte de Portugal (2021), and was an official itinerary European Youth Pilgrimage for the Jacobite Holy Year 2021/22.
The trail is 240 kilometers long and is notable for including two unique heritage sites in the world: the Roman Gera, the best preserved route of its kind in the world, and the Gerês-Xurés Transfrontier Biosphere Reserve. In addition, its path is one of the five that connect directly to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
