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. Here we share some stories of the people of the valley.
Music and Song
An 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.
Neighbours
Traditions of elders
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.
