Levada do Cidrao

Madrei

Ribeira do Cidrao N 32°43.855 W 16°57.433 ca. 814 m a.s.l. plus pipe feeders from higher, inaccessible springs or side streams

Course

Four thick plastic pipes from higher springs lead to the original Madre in the Ribeira do Cidrao. The stream carries no water in summer. The old Madre is also ruined and no longer working.

The path on the first 100 metres is very exposed and fitted with unreliable protection. Then follows a well-secured exposed stretch to a bridge over a side stream. The old levada to the stream is still clearly visible, but walking it would be life-threatening. From the other side of the bridge a newly built levada stretch reaches the side stream and takes its water. After that the levada is covered with concrete slabs, partly somewhat exposed and secured, as far as the north-eastern entrance of the closed tunnel. The old levada that bypasses the tunnelled section can be seen clearly; I would not dare to walk it, though.

From here a gravel track bypasses the tunnel; the south-eastern entrance can be reached via a stone stairway. At the tunnel exit a plastic pipe bypasses the old section. Walking is not possible here.

The levada goes around the outside of the mountain and reaches the uppermost fields east of and below the Curral road after the tunnel. The levada crosses the road here to a reservoir.

End

Curral das Freiras ca. 767 m a.s.l.

Function and use

Small local levada for irrigating the fields above and east of Curral das Freiras

Access

From the end or from the end of the cul-de-sac (old road from Curral to Eira do Serrado)

Condition

Path partly narrow and exposed; sure footing and a head for heights required!

Year of construction

I suspect the original levada is already quite old; the incredibly exposed stretch has now been replaced by a tunnel, a new bridge built, pipes laid and the Madre supplied with extra water so the fields get water again. On the satellite images at least the gravel track is not yet visible, which means the renewed commissioning cannot have been that long ago! Whether the levada was still in use before that would be interesting to know!