Page 253 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

Egas Moniz. In about 1110, 360 BC. Much of the town was his tomb has been eroded
guided by a dream, Moniz burnt down in 1809, after a through the embraces of
unearthed a buried statue of two-week siege by the French thou sands of devotees.
the Virgin and built a church forces under Marshal Soult. The Museu Amadeo de
for her. Miraculously, his young A recurring name in Souza-Cardoso is housed in
charge was cured overnight. Amarante is that of São the old monastery cloister. One
The present church dates from Gonçalo, who was born at exhibit describes a fertility cult
the 14th or 15th century, but the end of the 12th century. that predates São Gonçalo.
the finest of its treasures is a There are many stories of the The diabo and diaba are a pair
minute ivory carving of the dancing and festivities he of bawdy devils carved in black
Virgin, of unknown date. organized to keep ladies from wood, and are 19th-century
temptation by finding them replacements for an older duo
husbands, and he has become destroyed in the Peninsular
6 associated with matchmaking War. They became the focus of
and fertility. On the first
a local fertility rite, and were
Amarante weekend in June, the Festa de threatened with burning by an
São Gonçalo begins with outraged bishop of Braga; the
! E2 £ @ n Largo
Conselheiro António prayers for a marriage diabo was “castrated” instead.
Cândido; 255 420 246 partner, followed by dancing, The museum’s other prized
music and the giving of phallic- possession is the collection of
The pretty riverside town of shaped São Gonçalo cakes. Cubist works by the artist after
Amarante is one of the gems When the old Roman bridge whom the museum is named.
of Northern Portugal. Rows of across the Tâmega collapsed Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso
17th-century mansions with during floods in the 13th (1887–1918).
brightly painted wooden century, it was São Gonçalo
balconies line Amarante’s who was credited with Museu Amadeo de
narrow streets, and replacing it. The present Souza-Cardoso
restaurants seat diners on Ponte de São Gonçalo " ⌂ Alameda Teixeira de
terraces over hanging the crosses to the 16th-century Pascoães § 255 420 272
river. The origins of the Igreja de São Gonçalo, # Tue–Sun ¢ Public hols
town are uncertain but where his memory lives on.
the first settlement here In the chapel to the left of
was probably around the chancel, the image on

The ornate exterior
(inset) of Amarante’s
Igreja de São Gonçalo

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