Cristelo

Cristelo (Paredes), Portugal

Located between the two largest furniture production cities in the country, Cristelo is a parish located in the northeast of the municipality of Paredes. It has a geographical area of approximately 1.15 km2 and 1891 inhabitants (Census 2011). It is only 7 km away from the cities of Paredes and Paços de Ferreira.

Historically, everything indicates that Cristelo has been inhabited since ancient times (before the origin of Portugal). The etymology of the parish name, which refers to "Castrelo", an old popular form of the word "Castro", corroborates the hypothesis.

The origin of the name Cristelo, together with its geographical configuration on a high plane, resemble the Roman Castros. And that, according to scholars, may be an allusion to the remote settlement of the parish.

Despite being one of the smallest parishes of the municipality of Paredes in terms of geographical and population dimensions, Cristelo is a beautiful parish which presents an interesting natural and architectural heritage, where it stands out the Church of São Miguel, the Mount of Castro, the Calvary, the Cross, the emblematic “Chaminé da Fábrica” (legacy left by an old dairy industry) and several manor houses (Espessande, Longra, Perletieiro and Vinha Velha).

In Cristelo we can also find various fountains (most of which have been restored), three chapels and various shrines which also constitute a great historical value for the parish.

Agriculture was, in times gone by, the biggest economic activity, but nowadays the biggest slice of the population works in services and industry.

The industrial activity is characterised by companies that produce furniture, sawmills and civil construction.

The commerce is mainly super-markets, stationery shops, fuel supply, florists, bakeries, hairdressers, clothes shops, jewellers, restaurants and insurance companies.

In the provision of services the most important is medical care. The parish has a Health Centre, a Pharmacy and a private Clinic that provides several medical, nursing and oral health services, as well as complementary diagnosis means.

In what concerns social equipment, the parish has the cluster of schools “Agrupamento de Escolas de Cristelo”, a sports centre (which is municipal and integrated in the installations of the secondary school of Cristelo) and a football field. 

Besides the commercial and industrial dynamism, Cristelo also has a strong associative dynamism.

Among the various groups that "give life to Cristelo", the social area is in charge of the Association for the Development of the Parish of Cristelo.  The cultural promotion is made by the “ Cristelo Theatre Group”, Association “Código Musical”, Association “Geração Colorida”, and Ethnographic Group S. Miguel de Cristelo. In sports, currently there are the Veterans of Cristelo that make the hearts of football lovers boil, but there is also the Football Club of Cristelo.

The people of Cristelo have been, over time, to manifest a strong spirit of innovation, creativity and dynamism. An example of this is the most recent creation of projects such as the Youth Embassy and NotPro Studios, as well as the Youth week event, (promoted by the Parish Council).

Finally, it is important to point out that Cristelo is also a parish with tradition. Every year, the village celebrates two festivities: the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima (on the weekend closest to May 13th), and the Feast of St. Michael in honour of the Patron Saint (on the weekend closest to September 29th).

(info from local gov parish https://www.jf-cristelo.pt/freguesia/historia)

https://youtu.be/EzdqejSRcdg  (Cristelo)

https://youtu.be/XwJz1FHsmI4 (Paredes)

https://youtu.be/4FUc4mHizAs  (Paredes)

https://youtu.be/nfkMpV7QIEY  (Paredes)

https://youtu.be/PW2i800wXe8 (Paredes)