8 Comments

Love this town and thanks for providing another place to stay!

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Looks and sounds like a delightful location!

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We saw a pousada on a day trip to Évora and now, because of your two blog posts highlighting your stays, we need to try them out too! I love places with history and appreciate the stories they tell and the wonderful people who welcome us visitors. Thank you for sharing!

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Carol- looks and sounds like a wonderful trip and exploration of a beautiful place! Very charming! Thank you so much!

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A little bit of culture (latin, roman... very old stuff).

PICVA is written V, because the owners wanted to imitate the (old) Latin way of writing (maybe wanting to show some culture, some education... Sadly they failed.)

PICVA in portuguese is "pícua", so it should be written (elsewhere than in the tile) "Casa da Picua" (simple, unpretentious and elegant).

Explaining:

1- In Latin there was the sound for the letter we call U, but it didn't look like U. It looked like V. The Classical Latin alphabet had only 23 letters, not the 26 that we have today. (This is why the W looks like a double V but is pronounced like a double U).

2- "Pícua" (very, very old word) had two meanings in Portuguese, «crossbow (weapon)» and «money sink (something where money is spent continuously, without end)».

Maybe the owners (sadly) just didn't look all this up.

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Marta Cancela, the current owners didn't choose the name PÍCVA, the sign has been there for ever, it's just the way it usually usually done. it's a house from the 17 hundreds, we're not that old. It's a tile panel made by the oldest tile factory in Lisbon, Vúva Lamego.

As for the meaning of the word PÍCUA, you can't find it in any dictionary today. It was me, the current owner, who posted it online on a portuguese language doubts forum. Only members of the family know about it , it's meaning is passed on from generation to generation of the family.

Sometimes it's better to abstain to write about what you absolutely don't know about.

João Góis

Casa da PíCVA

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Thanks for your comment, Marta. The owners are aware of the meaning of Picva/Picua. I chose to include the name the way the owners have it on their sign. But I do appreciate the background information you have provided. - CW

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Thank you for such a delightful review of your visit.

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