History
The origin of the Quintal and its people
It is estimated that at the end of the 18th century the property that is now part of Quintal d’Olívia was inherited by Cândida Ascenção, Olívia’s mother. João dos Santos Isabel, the father, was a “found found” boy who came to Cela to work in agriculture from some charity house in Lisbon.
Once married, Cândida and João made the Quintal their nest. There they lived, there they had their fruit trees and their animals, including a team of oxen that would certainly make them less poor among the poor, at a time when poverty was dominant in Portugal.
Olivia's life and her drama
It is in this context that Olívia was born on June 12, 1913. Once she reached adulthood, she fell in love with a young canaster, José Gonçalves da Silva, aka Zé Marrafa, who would become her husband, in a relationship that did not deserve the blessing of the parents, especially the mother Candida, as he was a poor boy.
The feud between mother and daughter was such that it ended with Olivia’s disinherited expulsion from her parents’ home. This, it is said, made the bells of the village church ring so that the family dispute could be resolved.
Given the fragile situation of Olivia, and after the death of their parents, the brothers Conceição and Abílio, successful in Lisbon, made it easier for Olivia to buy the part of the yard that included the house, so that she could settle there with her husband and daughter Eunice, meanwhile born on July 14, 1948.
Olivia's inspiration for us
With an immense workforce, Olivia, with her husband’s collaboration, was achieving her victories, a fact that, combined with the strong character that characterizes the “Kettles” – the nickname given to the women of the family – makes her, in our eyes, a reference. of human strength and stubbornness in the feminine.
It is in this context that, in 2008, we decided to honor her memory and the legacy he left us and allow her backyard to continue to be a welcoming space as warm as it was in her time, each time she welcomed the family in her marries with its warm bread, its rabbit slowly stewed in the low fire of its chimney or its black sausages that still linger in the memory of those who had the privilege of savoring them.
