It was in 1903 that Camilo Pastoria Mourão started the construction of what would become the largest house in Codessoso, and one of the largest - if not the largest - in the municipality, surpassing the eternal rival João Domingues Ennes.
João do Janela, as he was known, later responded to the provocation by building a richly decorated family tomb, with its back to Camilo's, with access only through the churchyard via a private staircase.
Nobody knows for sure how the dispute started, what is known and said, is that neither dogs got along in the street.
What is known, and is said, is that not even dogs got along in the street.
The casarão as it is known in the village of Codessoso, of manorial type, took ten years to build and the old people say that it has as many doors and windows as there are days in a year.
Part of the house was in 2005 adapted for Rural Tourism by the granddaughter and current owner, Maria de Lourdes Mourão Lopes, or (dona) Milocas, as she prefers to be called.
Part of the house was adapted for rural tourism by the granddaughter and current owner.
It has available on a bed and breakfast basis, three suites, three double rooms and a twin room, all with views of the garden and pool, or village, private bathroom, heating, television and telephone.
Dona Milocas' grandfather made his fortune in Brazil. Initially he was very successful in the production of flour broth, but it was with the import of port wine that his fortune grew. The company bearing his name still exists.
Back in Portugal he became an active member of the Freemasons and met Delfina Ferreira, an ambitious seamstress who frequented the house and with whom he had seven children.
"It was common in those days for seamstresses to hang around the richest houses" - says Mrs Milocas - "after she got married my grandfather got her a teacher, Donana ("dona Ana") to make a lady out of her".
The teacher met a tragic end in the house after she inadvertently spilled oil on herself from a lamp she used to fill up to the top and then caught fire. They say she still ran towards the pond to throw herself into the water, but on seeing a servant turned back in shame. The servant, in shock, burst out screaming thinking he had seen a ghost. Donana burns to death.
These are some of the stories that you can hear dona Milocas tell, while you drink tea accompanied by a slice of homemade cake, by the fireplace, in one of the most traditional houses in Boticas.
Ask dona Milocas about Camilo's eldest son and the daughter of his eternal rival, João do Janela.
Tiago Rodrigues
Born in Lisbon, he left the capital for a village in Barroso, where he has developed projects with various local institutions. He is a graphic designer and art editor at UMinho Editora. In 2017, he founded Terra Callaeci, a project dedicated to the promotion of the cultural landscape of Trás-os-Montes, as a construction of the people who inhabited (and inhabit) it.
