From Aveiro we started to work our way inland. Our destination for the day was the small town of Amarante, but we made stops along the way. First was the church at Sao Gens de Boelhe. It's a small church from the 12th century. Unfortunately not open, but we were able to look at the outside which has some interesting carvings.
Next stop was the Santuario de Nossa Senhora da Piedade e Dos Santos Passos in Penafiel. The building dates from the late 1800s and was also closed when we stopped by. It's very close to the high school and was surrounded by students on their lunch break.
While walking through the adjacent park we read about a nearby megalithic structure at Anta de Santa Marta, which dates from about 1100 BCE.
We arrived in Amarante mid-afternoon. This is a lovely town along the Tâmega River. Although the town is very old, most of it was burned down in the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. A key figure in Amarante's history is São Gonçalvo who was born toward the end of the 12th century. When floods in the 13th century took out the bridge across the river, he is credited with replacing it. He was also active in encouraging people to couple up and marry. In June the town celebrates his life with dancing, music and phallic-shaped pastries. We saw these for sale in most every bakery in town.
There is a beautiful church (of course), and wonderful walking paths along the river.
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| Santiago |
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| These guys are holding up the organ loft. |
We spent a day walking about 14 km up and back on the river path. It seems to be relatively new, very well laid out and maintained.
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| When the river is lower it's possible to walk across on these stones. |
We saw our first Camino markers here. They are for the Camino de Torres, which starts in Salamanca Spain.
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