Eco-Wolf Trail – Station M – Gondomar Church (13/16)

At this station (as well as at Station F), the trail crosses the wall of a “Wolf Trap” (Fojo do Lobo). By taking a short 100-meter detour, you can access the pit where wolves were once captured. Fojos are ancestral dry-stone constructions built to trap wolves and bear witness to a time when frequent wolf attacks on livestock led local populations to build these remarkable monuments.

This Fojo, of the converging-wall type, is considered one of the largest examples on the Iberian Peninsula. It features a double variant with two pits and walls approximately 2 km long and 2 m high, designed to cover a wide area. It has centuries-old origins, possibly dating back to the Middle Ages, and remained in use until the 1930s.

The construction of the V-shaped walls allowed, through an organized drive involving hundreds of people, the wolves to be guided into the structure and toward pits that were previously camouflaged with broom branches. To prevent escape, the walls of the Fojo are topped with capstones or crown stones, which are stone slabs placed on top of the walls and angled inward. Along the Fojo walls, there are several passages used for the daily movement of people and animals, which were closed during the drives.

Today, despite the protection of the Iberian wolf and the prohibition of wolf drives, these imposing structures remain important testimonies of the agro-pastoral culture of mountain communities and their close relationship with the wolf.

Learn more: Mapa do Percurso e Projeto Trilho Eco-Lobo