Chocalhos de Alcáçovas

A chocalho is a livestock bell, and in the Alentejo they are made by hand at Alcáçovas: a sheet of iron cut and folded into shape, riveted, packed with clay and brass or copper filings, then fired so the metal fuses to the outside and gives the bell its tone, then filed and tuned. Shepherds order them in sets - each bell a different note, so a moving flock produces a chord and the shepherd can tell from the sound whether the animals are grazing, walking or disturbed, and identify his own herd at distance. It is a genuinely functional acoustic system, not a decoration. UNESCO inscribed the craft in 2015 on the list of intangible heritage in urgent need of safeguarding, because the number of working forges had fallen to a handful and the trade had almost no young entrants. A museum in the village sets out the process, and forges take visitors by arrangement.

The main sights

• The forging - iron cut, folded, riveted, packed and fired to fuse a brass surface.
• The tuning - bells filed to pitch so a flock's set produces a chord.
• The function - shepherds reading their animals' state and location from the sound.
• The UNESCO listing - inscribed in 2015 as urgently endangered.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Forge visits must be arranged in advance - there are very few makers and they are working, not performing.

Before you go

Only a handful of forges remain and visits depend entirely on booking ahead. The village has few services. Alentejo summer heat is severe and the forges are hot work. The museum is small.

Nearby

Viana do Alentejo and its castle are close; Évora is north-east.