We are a group of 14-year-old students from Escolapios School in Monforte de Lemos, and we’ve started an exciting project about sgraffito at the Ribeira Sacra. We live in an amazing place, famous for its canyons, incredible vineyards, and ancient monasteries, but we’ve discovered that there are hidden treasures right in front of our eyes. One of them is sgraffitto, a very old popular art technique that consists of creating designs on house façades by scraping layers of colored plaster. Although they can still be found in Monforte and nearby villages, they often go unnoticed because they’re damaged or covered. For us, finding them has been like becoming urban archaeologists, because they’re not just pretty decorations—they’re like pages from a diary that tell us what life was like more than a hundred years ago and what the artisans and builders of that time liked. Their heritage value is enormous, even if they’re not as famous as castles or fortresses, because they’re part of our popular architecture and everyday heritage that we need to protect.

When we started the project, almost no one knew what sgraffitto was, so the first step was to do some research. We searched online, read articles, looked at photos, and discovered how they were made in other parts of Europe. But the most enriching part was meeting real experts. We had the chance to talk to Alba Losada, a restorer, who explained the delicate process of recovering the original colors, comparing it to surgery done with tiny brushes. We also spoke with Mar López Sotelo, a researcher who helped us locate sgraffito decorations and understand their history, pointing out that many date back to the late 19th or early 20th century. We learned that the most common motifs are flowers, leaves, and geometric shapes, sometimes imitating stone to give façades a more elegant look. The technique involves applying several layers of colored plaster and scraping the outer layer so the one underneath shows through—a true display of skill.

This project made us reflect on the concept of heritage. For us, heritage is like our city’s family photo album: what our ancestors left us so we know where we come from and don’t lose our identity. That’s why we need to take care of it. European heritage isn’t just about grand cathedrals; it’s also about small techniques shared across different countries, like sgraffitto, which can be found in Portugal, Italy, and Germany. Europe is full of history and cultural exchanges, and our sgraffitto are proof of that—designs that travelled from other regions and adapted to our local architecture, showing how ideas moved and were shared. What’s most interesting about this heritage is its hybrid nature: it combines local elements—materials from the area—with global ones—European styles—and it’s extremely fragile. If we don’t protect it, it will disappear, taking a piece of our history with it.

This project also made us realize something very important: the connection between heritage and identity. When we walk down the street and see sgraffitto, we’re not just looking at a pretty design; we’re seeing the creativity and effort of people who lived here more than a hundred years ago. Every line, every shape connects us to them and reminds us that history isn’t only in books—it’s also on the walls around us. That’s why we believe it’s essential for people to know about this technique and appreciate it. If we don’t, it could vanish forever, and with it, part of our collective memory.

Thanks to this project, we’ve understood that heritage isn’t limited to what’s in museums—it’s also in the details we find on our streets. Sgraffitto decorations are our history turned into popular art. Now we know that the Ribeira Sacra isn’t just wine and landscapes; it’s also these façades that speak of the past. Our commitment as students is to spread the word about this treasure so more people join in protecting it, because caring for sgraffitto means caring for our identity and our collective memory. We hope this work inspires curiosity and respect for everything that makes us unique, because heritage isn’t something from the past—it’s a living part of our present and a legacy we must pass on to the future.