To recognize urban Porto street art up in the mountains of Serra da Estrela, 200km away from the coast and an altitude at least 1.7km higher, is like spotting the village donkey in front of City Hall. In other words, a surprise.
“That’s GODMESS!” I said, rubbernecking as we sped past the derelict building. His style is very distinct, even at a distance. Paulo knew it was time to pull over so I could get a picture, but that part was easy — there was no-one around, only goats.
We were well inside the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela, which is currently under a blanket of snow at the highest elevations. (Get a peek at the snow on the webcam at Torre.)
The building is the only structure along this particular stretch of the N339 south of Manteigas, just after the N338 meets the N339 on the way to Torre, the highest point on mainland Portugal. That made it easy to find on Google Street View. At the time the current snapshot was taken (May 2014), there was only the mural on the back wall of the building, by the street artist/muralist Violant. GODMESS’s art must’ve been added after the Google car made its pass, but maybe by the time you read this, the car will have made another pass and the picture will look just like this…
In the meantime, I’m sure the goats appreciate some art. It’s a long ways to the nearest museum.
September 11, 2016
Album: Serra da Estrela, Portugal
