Tuesday, 29 June 2010 14:58
The Festival of Wine Country Villages began in recently the village of vineyard Salzedas and continues 24 and July 25 in the Norte village of Ucanha. The program "Living Cistercians" is jointly organized by the Tourism of the Douro, the municipality of Tarouca, the parish of St. Mary Major Salzedas and the respective towns. The Festival, now in its third year, aims to introduce these rare villages and build a network. Ucanha is famed for its Tower and Bridge. The mediaeval bridge over the River Varosa and the tower standing at its entrance on the right bank form a rare work of Gothic civil architecture in Portugal. The bridge dates to the thirteenth century and was part of the mediaeval road linking Lamego to the region of Riba-Côa. In 1465, D. Fernando, the abbot of Salzedas, the monastery that had been given possession of land in the region, financed the building of the fortified bridge that marked the entrance to the estates of the Cistercian monastery and the consequent obligation to pay a toll. In old Portuguese, the word Ucanha meant a small stone house.
Media Kit
Portugal National Tourist Office