Porto Trip Overview
Medieval land and pure nature bathed in the best national wine.
Come and lose yourself in the cobblestone streets, explore the historic center without maps and meet this friendly people who welcome their visitors so well.
Amidst chapels and churches, discover traditional taverns and grocery stores that enchant you from the start.
Discover the legend of the river Lima, which is associated with the word Lethes, oblivion.
The story goes that in 135 BC, the Roman legions reached the left bank of a river.
The beauty of this place convinced the soldiers that they were facing the mythical “River of Oblivion”, whose crossing would erase all memory.
Afraid of losing their memory, the soldiers refused to cross the river.
Decimus Iunius Brutus, commander of the legion, crossed the river to the right bank and, without hesitation, called the soldiers by name to prove that the memory was intact.
The Bridge that gives the village its name
How could it be otherwise, I couldn’t come to Ponte de Lima without visiting the medieval bridge.
Additional Info
* Duration: 10 to 12 hours
* Starts: Porto, Portugal
* Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Porto, Northern Portugal, Portugal
Medieval land and pure nature bathed in the best national wine.
Come and lose yourself in the cobblestone streets, explore the historic center without maps and meet this friendly people who welcome their visitors so well.
Amidst chapels and churches, discover traditional taverns and grocery stores that enchant you from the start.
Discover the legend of the river Lima, which is associated with the word Lethes, oblivion.
The story goes that in 135 BC, the Roman legions reached the left bank of a river.
The beauty of this place convinced the soldiers that they were facing the mythical “River of Oblivion”, whose crossing would erase all memory.
Afraid of losing their memory, the soldiers refused to cross the river.
Decimus Iunius Brutus, commander of the legion, crossed the river to the right bank and, without hesitation, called the soldiers by name to prove that the memory was intact.
The Bridge that gives the village its name
How could it be otherwise, I couldn’t come to Ponte de Lima without visiting the medieval bridge.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Refoios do Lima, Ponte de Lima Portugal
The building of the Monastery of Refoios, founded in the twelfth century by D. Afonso Ansemondes, for Canons of the Rule of St. Augustine, currently houses the facilities of the Ponte de Lima Agrarian School, next to the imposing Parish Church of the parish that gives the name to the set – Refoios de Lima.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Igreja Matriz de Ponte de Lima, Largo da Matriz, Ponte de Lima 4990-045 Portugal
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Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Igreja da Misericordia de Ponte de Lima, 4990 Rua do Postigo, Ponte de Lima 4990-103 Portugal
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Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Pelourinho de Ponte de Lima, Passeio 25 de Abril, Ponte de Lima 4990-150 Portugal
In Ponte de Lima, the pillory, a symbol of absolutist power, existed on the Lima River, outside walls. With the liberal victory it was dismantled, and it is known, according to information about the national heritage, that “the Chamber removed it to transfer it to Queen’s Square, but the various elements eventually dispersed: the base and the stones of the platform were used for the sidewalk, the stem in a hostel by the river, the capital in the inner courtyard of the Maria Pia Asylum, the shield at the Fountain of Largo de São João and the armillary sphere were lost after have been in the Chamber for a long time “, and later, in 1936, the construction of the current structure was carried out, next to the Town Hall, built in the 16th century and is a beautiful example of the political-administrative architecture, today with nineteenth century features, highlighting on the front is the “two-arm stairway stonework body, which gives access to the second floor, torn underneath by a perfect arched back gap”.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Ponte Romana, Rua Doutor Araujo Lima, Ponte de Lima 4990-022 Portugal
The ex-libris of Ponte de Lima, which together with the river that flows through the village, gave the town its name, is its bridge. In fact, it is a set of two bridges: a larger medieval section, which starts on the left bank and extends to the Church of Santo António da Torre Velha and still passes through two arches. Then the remaining section of the Roman bridge. There are only five arches from the great arch that is in dry bed. If you go down you will also see the foundations of the Old Tower, perhaps the first of the medieval defensive system.
The Roman bridge probably dates from the first century, since it was at this time that the path of one of the military routes of the old “Conventus Bracaraugustanus” was opened, which linked Braga to Astorga, in this case the Via XIX, ordered by the Emperor. Augusto.
Regarding the medieval part, although it may go back in time, at least until the reigns of D. Pedro I and D. Fernando, by direct link to the construction of the walls and towers that fortified the village, work completed in 1370 or even D. Dinis, given the documentation of a bridge that could also be made of wood at that time, we know of its existence in the reign of D. Manuel I, more precisely in 1504, because this monarch had commissioned to make new paving and put merlons for decoration of the bridge, because they were no longer justified as a defensive and military option.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Torres de Sao Paulo e da Cadeia Velha, Passeio 25 de Abril, Ponte de Lima 4990-058 Portugal
Classified as Real Estate of Public Interest, as well as the wall that joins them, the Torre da Cadeia Velha and the Torre de S. Paulo (which also had the name of Expectation Tower and Postigo Tower) are the most testimonials. notorious of what remains of the old wall of Ponte de Lima, which, in addition to the walled structure, was composed of towers and doors, built in the reign of D. Pedro I, in the fourteenth century.
According to the epigraph that documents the work, written in Gothic script, highlighted by the Church of Santo António da Torre Velha, where the Old Tower once stood, the crushing of the stone began on March 8 and its settlement began on July 6, 1359.
The Old Jail Tower, adapted to prison in the 16th century (D. Manuel I), currently houses the Tourism Shop and hosts temporary exhibitions. The most attentive visitor, on a tour of the historic hull, will not fail to find traces of the towers and walls and the respective marks, placed on the pavement, evoking the missing monumental structure.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Santuario de Santa Luzia, Estrada de Santa Luzia, Viana do Castelo 4900-408 Portugal
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Duration: 30 minutes
