Page 251 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

Must See
EXPERIENCE MORE

3
Santo Tirso Did You Know?
! E2 £ @ n Praça 25 de
Abril; 252 830 411 The Trás-os-Montes
Santo Tirso, a major textile region is so remote
centre, lies beside the Ave that it has its own
river. The town’s most notable language, Mirandês.
building is the former monas­
tery of São Bento. Founded
by the Benedictines in the
8th century, the monastery church are an attractive bell
was later rebuilt, then modified tower and the ruins of the
in the 17th century. The pairs monastic cloister.
of columns in the 14th­century Sanfins de Ferreira, 5 km
Gothic cloister are graced with (3 miles) further east, is the
richly carved capitals. hilltop site of a citânia, an
The monastery, which is important Iron Age citadel,
now an agri cultural college, probably inhabited from
also houses the Museu Abade around the 6th century BC.
Pedrosa. The old monastery Traces remain of a triple ring
guesthouse and a modern of defensive walls around
extension converge to provide about 100 huts, and there is
The grand manor bright exhibition space for also a small museum on the
house with its formal sculpture and local archaeo­ site. The guard next door will
gardens (inset)
logical finds, including stone let you in on public holidays.
axes and bronze armlets.
At Roriz, 13 km (8 miles) Museu Abade Pedrosa
east of Santo Tirso, the ⌂ Rua Unisco Godiniz 100
Romanesque church of São § 252 830 400 # Apr–Sep:
Pedro perches above the 9am–5:30pm Tue–Fri, 2–7pm
Vizela valley. A date of 1228 is Sat & Sun; Oct–Mar: 9am–
carved in the porch, although 5:30pm Tue–Fri ¢ Public hols
there are claims that a church
may have stood here as early Sanfins de Ferreira
as the 8th century. Above the ⌂ Sanfins, signposted
portal is a noteworthy rose off N209 § 255 963 643
window. Set apart from the # Tue–Sun

THE CEDAR TUNNEL
This celebrated feature
in the Casa de Mateus
garden was formed
from cedars planted in
1941. It is 35 m (115 ft)
long and 7.5 m (25 ft)
high, the tight-knit
greenery providing
an aro matic walk
in summer. To keep
the tunnel in shape,
gardeners have to scale
specially fashioned The former monastery of
outsized ladders.
São Bento at Santo Tirso,
now a college and museum
251

250-251_EW_Portugal.indd 251 20/09/2018 17:01