history
There are places that deserve to be told slowly, and Escariz, in the heart of the concelho of Arouca, is one of them. It is said that its name comes from the Germanic 'Ashan', which referred to a warrior armed with a spear made of oak wood — and already this image plants us firmly in an ancient time, when these hillsides were inhabited by people who knew the land and how to defend it. It is a name that smells of forest and battle, of deep roots and centuries gone by.<p>The memory of Escariz does indeed reach back into remote ages. Across its lands remain the marks left by men who passed through here long before any written chronicle: megalithic structures, traces of hill forts and burial mounds that time has not entirely erased. These are silent witnesses to a very ancient occupation, of peoples who chose these heights in which to live, to bury their dead, to read the sky and the earth. Those who walk through Escariz tread, often without knowing it, on ground that has been inhabited since the dawn of time.<p>Closer to our own era, Escariz already appears in medieval documents, mentioned in the Inquirições of 1288 — those great surveys ordered to establish facts about lands, rights and peoples. It was also, in former times, a vicarage annexed to the Convento de Avé Maria, in Porto, a bond that linked this upland parish to a religious house in the great city. These details tell us that Escariz was never a marginal land: it was inscribed on the maps of power and faith, with its own voice and its own name.<p>The people of Escariz have always been workers with calloused hands. Life was built on farming, on tending the land and the fields, but also on crafts that gave families their name and their livelihood: woodworking, shaped by craftsmen who knew every grain; shoemaking, an art that demanded patience and skill; and construction, which raised houses and walls across the generations. More recently, beekeeping has found its place, and the hum of bees has become part of the soundtrack of these hillsides — honey as a new sweet fruit of a land that has never stopped producing.<p>In the chapter of heritage and soulful places, there is one spot that stands out for its position and its quietude: the Capela da Senhora da Abelheira (Chapel of Senhora da Abelheira), perched atop a hill. The climb to reach it is already half the act of devotion — and from up there the landscape rewards those who made the effort of the ascent, with the gaze sweeping across valleys and hills. It is one of those places where time seems to slow, where silence has texture and the wind tells old stories. Chapels like this are, in these lands, more than stone: they are meeting points, the living memory of pilgrimages and vows fulfilled across generations.<p>The traditions of Escariz breathe that same attachment to faith and community. Between devotion and celebration, the people keep alive the customs inherited from their grandparents, honouring their patron saints and celebrating them with the fervour of those who do not forget where they come from. Popular faith, with its processions and its rituals, continues to bring neighbours together and draw back those who have left, on those dates when the land calls its own. It is in these moments that Escariz shows itself whole, with its collective soul worn openly.<p>And then there is the table — because in Arouca, and therefore also in Escariz, to speak of the land is to speak of flavour. The great pride of the region is the Carne Arouquesa (local indigenous beef breed), which makes these lands a gastronomic reference. From the Arouquesa come dishes that are a celebration: the vitela assada (roast veal), the central element of traditional Arouquesa cooking, tender and flavoursome like few others; the cabrito assado (roast kid), bearing the hallmark of the mountains; the posta arouquesa (thick-cut beef steak), generous and honest; and the espetada de vitela arouquesa (veal skewer), which gathers around the embers all those who love to eat well. Nor are the bifes de Alvarenga missing, another great name in this meat-centred cuisine. And to accompany it all, Vinho Verde, fresh and lively, which cuts through the fat and opens the appetite for another forkful. It is a straightforward gastronomy, made from local produce treated with respect and prepared according to timeless wisdom — proof that in Escariz, as throughout the concelho, one eats with the soul and receives guests with abundance.
