Points of interest

Traditional fishing shelters (Lumiar)

Maritime fishing was, since the Middle Ages, an important source of livelihood for the entire coastal area between the Douro and Minho rivers. The fishing communities would settle in sheltered areas along the coast, where they could defend themselves against the Norman and Saracen pirate raids, and they ended up putting down roots and settling along the coastline.
The importance of fishing for these agro-maritime communities lasted until the last quarter of the 20th century. In additional to a vast collective memory associated to the hardships of the sea, we have inherited ancestral fishing techniques along with structures such as the camboas – a type of fishgarth or small artificial lakes near the sea used to trap fish, and shelters used to protect fishing tackle and gear, built next to navigable locations, where coastal characteristics allowed the access of fishing boats onto the beach.