Villa Cardosa

Costa Verde

Minho is situated in the north-west corner of Portugal next to the frontier with the Galician province of Spain. It is often called 'Green Minho' because of its green forests and cultivated valleys. Small houses are dotted around the lush landscape, surrounded by fields too small for a tractor to work them. Connecting these fields are granite set tracks which often have grape vines growing overhead. Liberally scattered around are the great houses of the past, of which nearly all have been beautifully restored.

Beautiful rivers come into this region from Spain. The river Lima has the towns of Ponte de Barca, Ponte de Lima and Viana do Castelo on its banks.

Another river is the Minho river which forms the northern border with Spain. Again there are interesting old towers along its banks including the fortified border town of Valenca do Minho. The fort which encloses the town was built to keep out the Spanish but nowadays their trade is welcome. Near here, at Ponte de Mouro, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster met with King Joao to ratify the Treaty of Windsor and arrange for the wedding of his daughter, Phillipa.

The southern border of the region is another beautiful river the Douro. Again the riverbanks are terraced vineyards leading down to the water. The wine from the 'quintas' on the upper reaches of this river is used to make the famous Port Wine.

The river valleys of this area of Portugal used to be the favourite place for the wealthy to build their manor houses. Today Princes, Prime Ministers and many others come to enjoy the Portuguese hospitality in these houses. Very affordable prices also allow others to also enjoy the area and lifestyle.

Nowadays many Minhotos from Portugal and the Galegos in Spain would like the regions of Galicia and Minho to split from their respective countries and form a separate Celtic state joined by their culture and language.

Minho also boasts the only National Park in Portugal with international status. Here there are the traditional hill farms and way of life. The cattle live under the houses and those which do go out grazing have to be indoors each night because of the Iberian wolf. Often the work of the village operates on a communal basis and money is not a necessity (although all nowadays have a bank account to collect the euros from the EU agricultural subsidy).

Access to modern society, thanks to EU projects of roads and electricity, means that the old way of life of these villages will be over forever in a few years time and it is recommended that all those interested should not delay their visit. Already it is becoming hard to find a water mill still working or a house without a chimney so that the hams could smoke in the kitchen.

Viana do Castelo

The history of Viana started on Monte de Santa Luzia on which there is now a modern temple. For the young and fit the climb to the top of the dome (Zimborium) will be memorable. Behind the temple there is a Pousada standing next to the old hill top village with the remains of many Celtic stone huts. This old village was inhabited from about 2000 BC until 1500 AD.

Its decline began with the Roman invasion of Portugal since the Roman legions had to be fed and to achieve this they made the hunter/gatherers living in these hilltop Celtic villages move down into the valleys to become farmers.

Explorers and colonists set sail from Viana but its wealth came from trade with Brazil and the town and countryside has many fine houses built by these wealthy men. Many of them have partially opened to the public, in return for state funds for restoration, by operating a very high class bed and breakfast establishment.
The Praca da Republica, which is just outside the old part of the town, is a fine square with the old miseriacordia and the former town hall.

The old town, a relative term, has narrow streets and alleys and cathedral. within its area is also the old hospital (now the tourist office). It still retains its Jewish quarter whose original inhabitants were fleeing from persecution in Aragon, Spain.When the merchants became wealthy from the trade with Brazil and other colonies, they were able to build many fine houses in and around the town. Also favoured was further up the river valley where Ponte de Lima is now situated. Attached to the Misericordia is a 17th Century Church with fine tiles decorated with pictures from the Old Testament. The square also contains a fountain constructed in 1553 and the 16th Century old Town Hall.

Many of the fine houses built by the merchants have been preserved but now have different uses. This makes it a very interesting town to walk around. It is not admitted in Porto, but the first Port Wine originated from Viana. It was red wine fortified with brandy which the sailors took with them when fishing on the Grand Banks in Newfoundland. This was exchanged for nets from England where it arrived as Portugal wine, later shortened to Port Wine.

When the port silted up about 150 years ago the trade moved to Vila Nova de Gaia on the opposite side of the Douro river to Porto.

The wine of the region is called Vinho Verde (literal translation 'green wine') which comes in either red or white varieties. Green in this case probably refers to a young wine. The wine is naturally slightly sparkling and works especially well with the fish caught from this port.

The surrounding countryside is of small fields within granite walls. The grapes are grown around the edge of these fields and in the centre are the cabbage on the corn. The corn is used to make maize bread and also to feed the animals which are kept underneath the houses.Walking along the paths in the villages, or the tracks that go across the mountains is very rewarding for the energetic.

Viana has traditionally been linked with trading by sea. There is a very busy, modern shipyard but there are still smaller boat builders building wooden fishing boats on the beach or, under cover.

During the third week of August, Viana is home to one of the world's major 'festas' in honour of Nossa Senhora de Agonia. There are three days of processions, dancing, bullfights etc. finishing with a spectacular firework display.

In the fishing quarter the streets are decorated with flowers over which the statue of the Madonna is carried. The town is full of people in national dress, the 'traje'. For males looking for a wife looks are not as important as the dowry she will bring in the form of the gold worn with the national costume.

Areosa