Old mills of Graciosa Island are used for rural tourism (with video)

In Graciosa, Azores, there are dozens of mills, remnants of the period in which there was a strong agricultural production on the island. Over the years, agriculture was losing power and windmills were left abandoned.

In recent years, there have been some recovery projects of these ancient spaces for rural tourism. The stone mill â€" built in the 1940, like most of the mills on the island â€" is one of the ten buildings were reused.

The space was acquired in 2002 by João Luís Silva, a native of Graciosa. For John, this stone mill is the realization of a project conceived long ago. "I've always liked mills and rustic stuff. A few years ago to work for this mill, "said João Luís Silva to the green economy.

After the purchase, the area went through a period of restoration, where it managed to preserve many of the artifacts that were inside the building at the time of purchase. Were restored utensils and built some pieces of furniture according to the lines of space decoration.

Currently, there are just over 4,000 inhabitants on the island of Graciosa, and 80% of the mill occupation of João Luís Silva is foreign.

For now, the stone mill is a supplementary source of income for João Luís Silva, who is a civil servant. However, in the near future, this Azorean hopes to leave the job to dedicate himself full-time to the project of rural tourism.

Meet the space in episode 317 of the green economy.



Photo: Paulo Vítor Martins/Creative Commons

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