One of these cults was to the God of the Sources and, therefore, it was necessary to remove the populations of these places. For that to happen, it was enough to give a sign opposite to the place of worship. This is how, for us, the lands that were close to the source, came to be known as Fonte Má lands.
It was, we are certain, a long process of disembodiment that would have been banished only when D. Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires, in the middle of the sixteenth century, knowing that the people of Fonte Boa would no longer connect that old cult, changed the name of Fonte Má to Good Source. The well-known Fonte do Couto has been associated with our origin, as it is a typical source of diving, in whose stone structure there are evident signs of sacralization. The entire facade of the granite fountain was decorated with crosses and cruises, with a very primitive trait, in order to consecrate the fountain and the surrounding space.
This practice is usual in pagan movements from the placement of small chapels aerópoles of the castros, until the crosses bets in milestones milestones of the Roman routes.
In this way it will not be difficult to admit that we are before the Source that marked the history of Fonte Boa.
Fonte Boa is one of the 15 parishes that constitute the county of Esposende. Inserted in a fertile vein, it occupies an area of about 5.7 km2 and is located about 7km from the county seat. It confines to the North with the river Cávado, that divides the freguesias of Fonte Boa and Gemeses, the South with Barqueiros, the neighboring county of Barcelos, the East with Rio Tinto and the West with the parish of Fão.
Fonte Boa is an integral part of the Cávado river basin that, on the north side, bathes a significant territorial area of this town, especially Barca do Lago, which was a medieval passage site on the way to Santiago. In socio-economic terms, the main activities of the parish are mainly agriculture and, to a lesser extent, the textile, metal-mechanic and construction industries. It has an associative dynamism, with emphasis on the Social and Parochial Center of Fonte Boa; Sports, Recreation and Cultural Association of Fonte Boa; Association of Parents and Guardians of Education of the Fonte Boa EB1; Group of Sailors of Fonte Boa; Folkloric Ranch of Fonte Boa and Youth Group.
Fonte Boa’s gastronomy is based on a traditional rural-based recipe based mainly on meats, soups and traditional sweets, taking advantage of the vegetables and other products of the earth, and the meat from the animals raised in the fertile pastures of the Cávado and fish species, river and sea, which make up the local gastronomic recipe.
On feast and slaughter days the pork would have a privileged place at the table, the fat parts being used in the broths, and the more affluent families would consume meat daily (chicken and beef). In the fields were presented collective snacks, where the wine ran and the cod and sardines were delicacies. By the time of São Miguel, during harvest season, the traditional defoliated and mashed potatoes presented other snacks with broa, chorizo, olives, ham, rosquilhos and new wine. At Easter and Christmas time, as well as other religious festivities, rabanadas and hijoses and other pastry candies were made, such as the threads of rotten bread and the sardões with “bean eyes”.
The oldest occupation of the present territory of the parish of Fonte Boa dates back to the Iron Age, witnessed by the Outeiro dos Picoutos castro, inhabited until Roman times. To the west of this mountain is a route of the route of the Roman time that transpunha there the river, going north along the line of the coast.
In the Middle Ages the population cluster was then composed of two small places: – Fonte Má and Alapela. The settlement of these two settlements resulted, in general, from the existence of three types of factors: one in zones protected from the climatic variations; another in areas sheltered in places of veiga, but at high points, in order to avoid flooding of the waters of the river Cávado and, finally, in areas near the best agricultural land.
Another agent of population fixation is the constitution of the kingdom of Portugal (1143), associated with the religious factor and the evangelizing process of the territory, with the dissemination of religious orders associated with monasteries and churches.
The annexation of the parish of Alapela then designated parish of Poor Source occurred in the Modern period, in 1542, by the Archbishop of Braga D. Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires. The designation of parish of Poor Source remained at least until the first half of the century. XVI, at which point it is referred to as San Salvador de Fonte Boa.
Agriculture in the parish owes much of its success to the excellence of the soil which constitutes the veiga, with a high aptitude for agriculture. The main agricultural crops are forage crops, such as maize in spring / summer and ryegrass, in autumn / winter. Also some horticultural crops such as slaw, various varieties of sprouts, beans, fava, etc., are visible on a smaller scale, often aimed at self-consumption.
There is also the existence of traditional agricultural practices, especially the vineyard, which is located in the border of agricultural fields. In this typical minhoto system of vineyard management, in addition to the remarkable scenic effect that confers its own identity on the local landscape, it shows the application of several natural materials such as granite supports to support the ramada and the use of a willow species (Salix viminalis) currently called wicker, as a natural vinegarer after pruning.
In floristic terms, there is a considerable diversity of plants, especially along the Cávado River, especially the Linaria triornithophora (L.) Willd, which is undoubtedly the most admirable flower and occurs in the Picoutos area, which is the best of this plant throughout the county. The living element of exceptional value at the municipal level is a majestic pluricentennial of oak-alvarinho or oak-Portuguese (Quercus robur) located next to the chapel of Mrs. Da Graça and presenting a leg with anomalous dimensions needing support to support its Weight.
At the level of the fauna there is the occurrence of avifauna in the agricultural-forestry interface, such as sparrows, finches, thrushes, thrushes, wildflowers, wildflowers, blackbirds, starlings, wrens, lavercas, larks, jays, , among others. In the left bank of the Cávado, in the places with greater density of autochthonous vegetation, the presence of aquatic birds like the guardians, white heron, imperial heron, heron, coot, duck, among others stands out.
In Boa Fonte the farmer was almost always, also, fisherman and sargaceiro. Despite the interiority of its geographical location, it always had a privileged relationship with the sea, either through the Cávado, a river navigable from Fonte Boa to its mouth, or by land, traveling the so-called “Way of the Sea.” The fishermen / farmers had small vessels for fishing and sargaceira (secondary and complementary activities to agriculture) in Cramadoiro and Frade, nowadays Cedóvem and Pedrinhas (Apúlia), places where they owned their “shacks” or “houses of the sea” to keep the vessels and utensils connected with the activity of picking up the pilado and the sargasso.
At the beginning of 1970 still boats and rafts were going to the sargasso. Behind them had been the pilado and the sardine fishing. In agriculture the introduction of chemical fertilizers and mechanization changes the rural daily life of Fonte Boa irreversibly.
The collective work where almost the whole village participates, some days in the house of some, after the task was begun in the house of others to pay the aid, and some of the rural traditions that some stubbornly try to lose to preserve.
The annexation of the parish of Alapela then designated parish of Poor Source occurred in the Modern period, in 1542, by the Archbishop of Braga D. Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires. The designation of parish of Poor Source remained at least until the first half of the century. XVI, at which point it is referred to as San Salvador de Fonte Boa.
Agriculture in the parish owes much of its success to the excellence of the soil which constitutes the veiga, with a high aptitude for agriculture. The main agricultural crops are forage crops, such as maize in spring / summer and ryegrass, in autumn / winter. Also some horticultural crops such as slaw, various varieties of sprouts, beans, fava, etc., are visible on a smaller scale, often aimed at self-consumption.
There is also the existence of traditional agricultural practices, especially the vineyard, which is located in the border of agricultural fields. In this typical minhoto system of vineyard management, in addition to the remarkable scenic effect that confers its own identity on the local landscape, it shows the application of several natural materials such as granite supports to support the ramada and the use of a willow species (Salix viminalis) currently called wicker, as a natural vinegarer after pruning.
In floristic terms, there is a considerable diversity of plants, especially along the Cávado River, especially the Linaria triornithophora (L.) Willd, which is undoubtedly the most admirable flower and occurs in the Picoutos area, which is the best of this plant throughout the county. The living element of exceptional value at the municipal level is a majestic pluricentennial of oak-alvarinho or oak-Portuguese (Quercus robur) located next to the chapel of Mrs. Da Graça and presenting a leg with anomalous dimensions needing support to support its Weight.
At the level of the fauna there is the occurrence of avifauna in the agricultural-forestry interface, such as sparrows, finches, thrushes, thrushes, wildflowers, wildflowers, blackbirds, starlings, wrens, lavercas, larks, jays, , among others. In the left bank of the Cávado, in the places with greater density of autochthonous vegetation, the presence of aquatic birds like the guardians, white heron, imperial heron, heron, coot, duck, among others stands out.
In Boa Fonte the farmer was almost always, also, fisherman and sargaceiro. Despite the interiority of its geographical location, it always had a privileged relationship with the sea, either through the Cávado, a river navigable from Fonte Boa to its mouth, or by land, traveling the so-called “Way of the Sea.” The fishermen / farmers had small vessels for fishing and sargaceira (secondary and complementary activities to agriculture) in Cramadoiro and Frade, nowadays Cedóvem and Pedrinhas (Apúlia), places where they owned their “shacks” or “houses of the sea” to keep the vessels and utensils connected with the activity of picking up the pilado and the sargasso.
At the beginning of 1970 still boats and rafts were going to the sargasso. Behind them had been the pilado and the sardine fishing. In agriculture the introduction of chemical fertilizers and mechanization changes the rural daily life of Fonte Boa irreversibly.
The collective work where almost the whole village participates, some days in the house of some, after the task was begun in the house of others to pay the aid, and some of the rural traditions that some stubbornly try to lose to preserve.
The annexation of the parish of Alapela then designated parish of Poor Source occurred in the Modern period, in 1542, by the Archbishop of Braga D. Frei Bartolomeu dos Mártires. The designation of parish of Poor Source remained at least until the first half of the century. XVI, at which point it is referred to as San Salvador de Fonte Boa.
Agriculture in the parish owes much of its success to the excellence of the soil which constitutes the veiga, with a high aptitude for agriculture. The main agricultural crops are forage crops, such as maize in spring / summer and ryegrass, in autumn / winter. Also some horticultural crops such as slaw, various varieties of sprouts, beans, fava, etc., are visible on a smaller scale, often aimed at self-consumption.
There is also the existence of traditional agricultural practices, especially the vineyard, which is located in the border of agricultural fields. In this typical minhoto system of vineyard management, in addition to the remarkable scenic effect that confers its own identity on the local landscape, it shows the application of several natural materials such as granite supports to support the ramada and the use of a willow species (Salix viminalis) currently called wicker, as a natural vinegarer after pruning.
In floristic terms, there is a considerable diversity of plants, especially along the Cávado River, especially the Linaria triornithophora (L.) Willd, which is undoubtedly the most admirable flower and occurs in the Picoutos area, which is the best of this plant throughout the county. The living element of exceptional value at the municipal level is a majestic pluricentennial of oak-alvarinho or oak-Portuguese (Quercus robur) located next to the chapel of Mrs. Da Graça and presenting a leg with anomalous dimensions needing support to support its Weight.
At the level of the fauna there is the occurrence of avifauna in the agricultural-forestry interface, such as sparrows, finches, thrushes, thrushes, wildflowers, wildflowers, blackbirds, starlings, wrens, lavercas, larks, jays, , among others. In the left bank of the Cávado, in the places with greater density of autochthonous vegetation, the presence of aquatic birds like the guardians, white heron, imperial heron, heron, coot, duck, among others stands out.
In Boa Fonte the farmer was almost always, also, fisherman and sargaceiro. Despite the interiority of its geographical location, it always had a privileged relationship with the sea, either through the Cávado, a river navigable from Fonte Boa to its mouth, or by land, traveling the so-called “Way of the Sea.” The fishermen / farmers had small vessels for fishing and sargaceira (secondary and complementary activities to agriculture) in Cramadoiro and Frade, nowadays Cedóvem and Pedrinhas (Apúlia), places where they owned their “shacks” or “houses of the sea” to keep the vessels and utensils connected with the activity of picking up the pilado and the sargasso.
At the beginning of 1970 still boats and rafts were going to the sargasso. Behind them had been the pilado and the sardine fishing. In agriculture the introduction of chemical fertilizers and mechanization changes the rural daily life of Fonte Boa irreversibly.
The collective work where almost the whole village participates, some days in the house of some, after the task was begun in the house of others to pay the aid, and some of the rural traditions that some stubbornly try to lose to preserve.
