Lazarim

Today is a sunny Sunday so we took advantage of the lovely weather to drive 12 km to a picturesque village of around 600 people called Lazarim.

It seems to be a very old village with its ancient stone houses blending into the steep terraced countryside. A clean fast-flowing river runs through it. Wicker work and agriculture, especially grape growing, seems to be the main industry. Hopefully, the new Interpretative Centre of Iberian Masks will bring in more tourists, and money.

People know the town because of its church, dedicated to the Archangel Saint Michael, and it’s wooden masks. Supposedly, the church has a valuable painted ceiling, where angels and archangels are represented.

Around the town, we saw long, thin wooden huts set up on stones. As we didn’t have a clue what they were, we asked. They are called a very strange name - Espiguieros or Asparagus! The huts are used for storage of grains and corn, and to protect the contents from rats, mice and other rodents.

Our main reason for going to Lazarim was to see the wonderful hand carved wooden masks worn by local caretos (young men disguised as devils) during their version of Carnaval, but we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the life and landscape of this tiny town.Read more