The Fonte do Paço (fountain of Paço) has supplied the people of the town for centuries, we do not know exactly since when. It was a fountain of mergulho or chafurdo (Literally meaning a fountain of diving or of wallowing): a pit with water below the level of the ground where the vessels were submerged to be filled up.
With time it was transformed, having received a masonry coping, redone in 1936 according to Túlio Espanca.
“Passo” in Portuguese means “Passage” or “Step”. Its designation must come from the fact that it is located in a place of passage. Therefore, the correct spelling should be Passo² and not Paço. In addition, this last word is used when referring to a palace or town halls, but this village’s old Town Hall was far from this place.
The old documentation recorded some events in its vicinity, such as assaults or crimes in the way to the fountain. In 1654 the wife of a member of the local elite was assaulted by a female slave of another member of the nobility when she was heading for the fountain. The slave ended up being condemned to a year of exile outside the village and periphery by the local judges. Already in 1738 there was a homicide in the alleyway of the fountain.

1 - Literally meaning a fountain of diving or of wallowing.
2 - “Passo” in Portuguese means “Passage” or “Step”.