About ILha Rural School of Arts The People’s Forest Support us to protect ILha
Welcome to ILha
ILha means Island in Portuguese and ILha is one of the last of the wild places
A cluster of inter-relating ecosystems, where the Gardunha mountains surround the valley between the villages of Alpedrinha and Póvoa de Atalaia. A place with a unique and diverse landscape comprising of many small scale farmsteads, with people that carry the wisdom of a life close to the land.
For the last 9 years, we have been coming to this region, learning and connecting with the people that have a life close to the land. Deepening our love for this place, the peoples and cultures here.
Stories of
The People of the Valley
Music and song is a important part of the rhythm of the valley, its sounds and songs often echo through the cobble streets. Here the Adufe is played in the village by old and new locals. The Adufe is the traditional drum of the area.
Deep connection to land
Traditions of elders
ILha and us is our dual restoration Model
Local networks are abundant with people called to be in alignment with the wisdom of the land.
Here some of our local partners share stories about the quality of this space.
Transhumance an ancient practice and a type of nomadism where there is a seasonal movement of animals between higher pastures on the mountain in summer and lower valleys in winter is still a practice in the neighbouring villages. By offering these stories, reverence, celebration The Rural School of Arts will re-position these ways of being, to plant a new earth centered culture within the hands and hearts of the people.
Location from this place looking out towards the horizon you can see the historic village of Monsanto to the East and the historic village of Castelo Novo to the West. Surrounded by the tips of the Gardunha that in its root meaning refers to notions of refuge, providing safety and protection to the people and ecosystems of the valley.
