Murça of the Pig
It’s not a top destination, but this is a nice place, with a funny traditional story immortalized with the statue of a pig. The landscape is very beautiful.
The city is known all around the country by its wine, branded “Porca de Murça”. Porca means sow, and in the center of the town its a pig what you see in a statue.
Strange? Yes! But you will have to read the tip about it to understand.
A Porca de (The sow of) Murça
The sow has a story:
In the 17th century, the village was attacked by a big animal, for many people a bear, for the other a female boar.
The farmers joined to hunt her, but the fight was hard, because of the smartness of the animal.
In honor to the opponent, the residents raised this statue of a pig (a male, as easily noticeable…) in the main square.
”Porca de Murça” is today the name of one the most known wines from Douro. The funny thing is that, after killing the animal the doubts about his nature, persisted till today.
O Porca de Murça (wine)
Douro has a deserved reputation of producing great wines. The local brand is one of the most popular, in the cheap range (I saw it in Hong Kong).
It’s funny, after many years listening to the words of its name without understanding the meaning, to stop at the village, discover what really means that name, and see how, from the statue, we may appreciate the beauty of Douro slopes.
