Querença

Querença
Querença is a parish of the county of Loulé, situated in the northern region which marks the environmental transition between the Algarve and the Alentejo, known as Barrocal.

The village, of ancient origin as the pre-historic findings in the region confirm, begins at the top of a hill and extends its white-washed houses down slopes with steep and cobbled lanes.

The doors and windows have traditional blue trims, and several round or rectangular filigree chimneys decorate the roofs.

Intricately carved platbands ornament some of the buildings rising on a slope which ends near the pretty Mother Church.

Nearby, at Benémola Fountain (which deserves being admired), don´t forget to visit the Salustreira caves, more than 80 metres long and 12 metres high.

Querença is known for its tasty «chouriças» (smoked pork sausages) and by the fine quality of the arbustus-berry brandy, destilled according to an ancestral process.

Perhaps due to this, the local population is proud to organize, each January, the «Chouriças Feast».

At Easter there is the «Folares» (baster-cake) Feast, and in August, at the «Petiscos (choice morsels) Feast, the visitor can enjoy the region´s typical delicacies.

Stewed giblets of hen and maize paps are two of the zone´s many specialities which, together with the fresh green landscape, make it worth visiting.