Monastery in Amarante
Mosteiro de São Gonçalo
Founded in 1543 by João III, the Mosteiro de São Gonçalo and Igreja de São Gonçalo weren’t completed until 1620. Above the church’s photogenic, Italian Renaissance side portal is an arcaded gallery, 30m high, with 1…
Museum in Amarante
Museu Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso
Hidden in one of the Mosteiro de São Gonçalo’s cloisters is this delightfully eclectic collection of modernist and contemporary art, a pleasant surprise in a town of this size. The museum is named after Amarante’s f…
Bridge in Amarante
Ponte de São Gonçalo
A symbol of the town’s heroic defence against the French (marked by a plaque at the southeastern end), the granite Ponte de São Gonçalo is Amarante’s visual centrepiece. The original bridge, allegedly built at Gonça…
Church in Amarante
Igreja de São Domingos
Rising beside São Gonçalo are several impressively steep switchbacks topped by this round, 18th-century church. The views from up top are stunning.
Church in Amarante
Igreja de São Pedro
The nave of this baroque church is decorated with beautiful 17th-century blue-and-yellow azulejos (hand-painted tiles).
Ruins in Amarante
Solar dos Magalhães
This burned-out skeleton of an old manor house situated above Rua Cândido dos Reis, near the train station, has been left in ruins – a stark and uncaptioned memento from Napoleon’s troops.