Rebordosa and the furniture industry

The name Rebordosa dates to 1258, due to the abundance of chestnut trees in the area. From the chestnut trees, you would get round chestnuts that were called “rebordans”. Thus, Rebordosa gathered its territory's geological and morphological features to have trees with large trunks like oaks, eucalyptus, and pine trees.

These types of trees were favorable to the manufacture of furniture, due to their flexibility, density, and resistance to rotting. Hardwood sawmills began to appear combining the raw materials with the nearby river (Rio Ferreira). They would then transform the trunks of the trees into wooden planks. Around the end of the XIX century, the know-how of this process passed from generation to generation.

This is how the furniture industry began in Rebordosa. A familiar company where the house's ground floor would be the workshop. The men would take over the transformation of the wood whereas the women took charge of delivering the furniture pieces. This is how the figure of the “Carreteiras de Rebordosa” was born, carrying furniture pieces by foot on top of their heads. Some of the deliveries were more than 20km away.

This kind of industry formed a deep route in the region of Rebordosa, and even today a major part of the population works in a furniture industry-related job. The use of high-quality craftsmanship and advanced technology made Rebordosa known beyond borders.