Among the traditional Portuguese architectural heritage, there are many buildings in schist masonry, from North to South of the country, varying the buildings typology and use, the constructive techniques and even the type of schist, which may have quite different physical and mechanical properties depending on the extraction location. The present study intends to characterize the properties of the schist from three different regions in Portugal. The main results obtained in the characterization laboratory tests are presented and a comparison is made between the properties of the schist from these three regions.