The miniature village in Agilde — what is worth knowing from Casa de Pelicas

Photos: Rota do Românico

The miniature village in Agilde is about 20 to 25 minutes from Casa de Pelicas, on a hillside in the parish, and it is not a theme park. It is Pedro Lemos’s life’s work: he started building little houses with stones and sticks after school and never really stopped. When guests ask what to do with children on a day when the ecotrail is not quite enough, this is where we send them.

The plot is now about thirty metres long and eleven wide, with more than fifty buildings made by hand — cement, stone, paint, and the upkeep Lemos still does in his spare time. The pieces that cost him the most work are the replicas of the Hospital de Fafe and the Monastery of São Gonçalo in Amarante; there are also two castles, one of them borrowing ideas from Guimarães, and many houses copied from dwellings around here. It is not Portugal dos Pequenitos. It is smaller, more homemade, and it sits outdoors on a scrub hillside.

The visit is walking between the streets. Everyone — children included — is giant-sized next to the houses, and that is what works: a church, granite grain stores, manor houses, a square with a fountain, a miniature cemetery. In spring and summer the plants grow up around the models and the place looks even more like a real village. What you do not do is touch. Some pieces are already broken because someone was not careful, and the project is still one person’s.

There is no ticket, no opening time, no café. It is open all year, at any hour, and the Agilde parish council tarmacked the access in 2020 and put up signs. Parking is the bit that fails: the last street is a narrow dead end. Leave the car on Rua do Outeiro, where there is a verge, and walk up following the signs — the last stretch is still dirt, and it is steep. Rain makes it slippery. Wear decent shoes, and bring the dog only on a lead and well away from the miniatures. On the map, search for “Aldeia Miniatura de Pedro Lemos”.

An hour is enough. Children stay longer than adults, which is the argument for going: it is the short outing that fits before lunch at the house, or after a swim at Fermil, without turning the day into an itinerary. If you want to add Arnoia Castle on the same loop, do the village first — after a castle the little houses lose a little of their spell; the other way around, they hold it.

Celorico rewards this kind of stop: local, free, and close enough to the pool that it does not feel as if you have left your holiday. It is the opposite of a generic Minho list, which is why we recommend it from Casa de Pelicas.

Photos: Rota do Românico

Read the Celorico de Basto page

Where to stay

• Casa de Pelicas