Now Reading: Portugal’s 19th-century goat tower still houses dwarf goats
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Portugal’s 19th-century goat tower still houses dwarf goats
The Times of India reports that a three-storey stone tower in Portugal’s Vinho Verde region, built in the late 19th century for dwarf goats, still houses live animals. Known as Torre das…
The Story in Brief
The Times of India reports that a three-storey stone tower in Portugal’s Vinho Verde region, built in the late 19th century for dwarf goats, still houses live animals. Known as Torre das Cabras, it features a wooden spiral ramp allowing goats to climb between floors, designed by the Guedes family as an ornamental folly.
The tower inspired similar structures globally after a South African winery copied it in 1981. Today, the tower remains a functional animal house and a popular garden feature at Quinta da Aveleda estate, with goats climbing the same ramp for over a century.
The Indian Opinion
This story could easily be dismissed as a European eccentricity, but the tower's century-plus of continuous use challenges that view. In India, where livestock housing is often purely utilitarian, the Torre das Cabras raises a concrete question: can thoughtful design improve animal welfare without prohibitive cost? The test will be whether any Indian farm or vineyard builds a similar structure in the next decade.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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