Inside the Arribes del Douro Natural Park, at about 70km away from Zamora lies this tiny village from Sayago, which belongs to Villar de Buey municipality and which counts with less than 60 inhabitants.
There are not many documents about the history of this village and it is believed its history may well be connected to that of Fermoselle, the nearest urban centre to which it belonged until the 19th century. The village shelters two churches of uncertain Romanesque origin, which could convey the existence of the village back to the 13th century, when King Alfonso IX offered the Villa of Fermoselle to the Diocese of Zamora and entitled it with several jurisdictions between 1205 and 1221.
The parish church is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Carrasco, the local patron saint. The chapel of San Miguel Arcangel, situated relatively far from the village, at a higher place with several granite outcrops and a wide visual control over the surroundings, still keeps its traditional pilgrimage and mass, celebrated in honor of San Miguel the nearest weekend to May 8th. During the procession both churches carry the banner or “Viriato”.
A panoramic sight of the Arribes landscape can be enjoyed from the chapel and in the surroundings several remains of other modern constructions can be found, as it is the case of the Carabineros shed, where the Guardia Civil would control the smuggling movements. Other traditional elements compose this privileged area of enormous tourist appeal, such as the shepherd hut made on the rock formation or also the natural balcony, which is called the Priest’s Viewpoint.
San Miguel chapel is a humble building made of masonry and ashlars which went through several changes. It is composed of a nave with two areas, a square front with a portal opened to the north and a small bell-gable on the western wall. It is difficult to classify it artistically due to its rural nature. There are no significant elements, and only the front and the transverse arch could have Romanesque designation, which would nevertheless be doubtful.
It has been recently restored with works focusing on the roof, elimination of mortars on the inside and new floor. It shows several failures in the finishings, joints and trims.
The works projected for this stage would be focused on improving the eaves, on solutions related to the fitting of the tiles on the wall, mortar pigmentation, eliminating Portland concrete, covering cracks, removing grouting and finally substituting the gutter over the door and installing a new one which would be more adapted to the character of the building.
A polychrome wooden sculpture of a crucified Christ can be found in the front of the church. It is difficult to classify chronologically this popular piece, which presents several damages and that was repainted quite a few times. The works shall remove the dirt and the additions and consolidate the damaged parts
To access the chapel we need to go through a road which is sinuous but suitable for traffic and that has already been prepared with signage.
The planned action consists on installing an information point according to the usual models of the Atlantic Romanesque Plan, in order to identify it as one of the sites included within the plan. Several furniture items will be designed and installed at the viewpoint in order to set up a small rest area where the landscape can be interpreted.
