TRANSLANA WOOL ROUTE

TRANSLANA® Wool Route route coordinated by the Wool Museum and P&DP Tours

Through a historical route that links the Serra da Estrela to the natural wealth of the rolling plains of Spanish Extremadura

With regard to the Wool Route, its itineraries are profusely documented in our country, specifically in the Beira Interior region, from the 12th century to the present day. It is also important to take into account the spatial and geographical complementarities that have developed over time between the people of this region and which were the origin of their specialization in this field.

The restoration and conversion into a museum of the Royal Cloth Factory Dyeing Plant was one of the first projects to restore Portuguese industrial heritage, with the inauguration of the Wool Museum of the University of Beira Interior on April 30, 1992. It was also within the scope of this experience that systematic surveys of industrial heritage began in Covilhã and the surrounding region.

From the 12th century to the present day, there are numerous documentary sources. Among these, the business archives of many of the factories in Covilhã stand out. Also noteworthy is the proliferation of catalogs scattered throughout the factory archives, letterhead, product labels and packaging, photographs and engravings, drawings and plans, audiovisual records, products and samples, models and mock-ups of the factories that were built over time, and company advertisements published in the press, all of which are of unquestionable historical interest.

Wool: a living heritage

Wool, a vehicle of cultures, can be found throughout human history at all crossroads of civilizations, protecting people from rain and snow, from the cold of the mountains, from the scorching heat of the plains, and from the dust of the transhumance trails. 

In the Iberian Peninsula, it was the shepherds and their flocks of merino sheep who, since time immemorial, crossed bridges and rivers, climbed mountains, and traveled across vast plains in search of green pastures, blurring borders. They created Lusitania and brought together the people of the inland and neighboring territories surrounding the Portuguese Central Border, which includes the districts of Guarda and Castelo Branco and the region of Tajo-Salor-Almonte in Spanish Extremadura.

The history of the region is inextricably linked to an area rich in diversity and conducive to self-sufficiency, which, tested since its first settlers, was guaranteed by agro-pastoral activities, hunting, fishing in rivers and streams, the supply of firewood, and openness to commercial penetration. The mountain, Serra da Estrela, providing natural pastures for livestock, was a meeting point for the great transhumance routes, both national and peninsular, allowing some population centers in its area to specialize in the manufacture of cloth, through easy access not only to the raw material that fed this industry—wool—but also to the energy indispensable to its development, from the use of water and firewood that it prodigiously offered. It thus contributed, in general terms, to demarcating a region, as described in the 17th century by Gonçalo da Cunha Villas Boas: at the foot of this Serra da Estrela, where everything is wool and cloth, some work and others trade.

We set out in search of the marks left on the landscape and invite you to join us on a historical journey that links Serra da Estrela to the natural wealth of the rolling plains of Spanish Extremadura, starting at two museums that mark the beginning and end of the Wool Route – TRANSLANA: the Museo Vostell-Malpartida in Malpartida de Cáceres and the Museu de Lanifícios in Covilhã. This route revitalizes, in the 21st century, the journey of wool merchants who, in the 19th century, supplied themselves at the Lavadero de Lanas de los Barruecos (now the Vostell-Malpartida Museum) to ensure the regular operation of various factories in Covilhã, notably the Real Fábrica Veiga (now the Wool Museum). 

Our travel destination isn't just a place, it's also a new way of looking at things!

Price from 183€ per person

Lã Translana Route is a route that can be for families or groups!

Day 1

9:30 Meeting at the defined location (Castelo Branco)

10:00 Guided tour of the wool museum (Cebolais de cima)

11: 15 Departure towards Malpartida de Cáceres

13:20 Lunch

15:00 guided tour of the Vostell Museum

16:15 departure towards Alcántara

17:00 guided tour of Alcántara and Roman bridge

18:20 Departure towards Portugal

19:30 Check-in Hotel 3*

20:00 Dinner 

Day 2

8:30 Breakfast Hotel

10:00 Guided tour of the UBI Wool Museum

13:00 Lunch and end of activities

Rate per person, except on long weekends and holidays.

* Transportation not included

The route must be a minimum of a group of 4 people and must be booked at least 15 days in advance.

Note: payment is made at the time of booking. Contacts: +351 927802956 reservasbarco950@gmail.com