The village of Sistelo is located in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez, in the heart of the Peneda-Gêres National Park, next to the source of the river Vez. It is one of the most beautiful examples of nature shaped by the human hand. Famous for its terraced landscapes, where corn is grown and the cattle grazed, it was officially classified as a national monument and the informal “Portuguese Tibet”. The village is very well preserved, with typical granite houses, granaries and public washrooms having been restored. The Castle of Sistelo, the ex-libris of the village, deserves a careful visit: it is a late 19th century palace where the Viscount of Sistelo lived. Walk the walking paths, the Vez ecovia and collect breathtaking photographs !!

Located in the heart of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, the village of Soajo is a millenary village, located in a mountainous area of great beauty, predominantly rural. The village is characterized by its streets paved with granite slabs and houses built with stone blocks, where peace of mind reigns and time seems to have stopped, surrounded by an almost immaculate nature. Its community threshing floor is still one of its greatest attractions today, consisting of twenty-four granaries over 200 years old, many of which are still used today by the population to store and dry corn! Visit the megalithic monuments, the lagoons of the river Adrão and the magnificent flora of the mountains, where you can find one of the rare carnivorous plants of Portugal: the dewy, with insectivorous habits.

The old monastery, probably built by D. Teresa, adopted the Cistercian order at the end of the 13th century, thus integrating the area under the influence of Santa Maria de Fiães. Evolving with immense difficulties, it is transformed in 1441 into a parish church, returning to the order 1497. In 1560 it already presented an advanced state of abandonment, for what reason it is secularized, with its income integrated in the college of S. Bernardo de Coimbra. Currently, some of the architectural structures of the Romanesque church and the subsequent alterations made in the Modern Period still remain. In its original form it would be a church with three naves and a headboard with three square chapels. Cister's original plan was not completed, probably due to the economic difficulties of the local community, so what we see today is mainly the result of works carried out in the 18th century. The collateral nave was suppressed, leaving only the triumphal arch of the chapel (visible from the outside), with the sacristy on the opposite side. On the roof, one of the original elements of the Cistercian project is visible, of important significance, composed of the Romanesque rose, illuminating element of the central nave. Some of the decorative elements of the cantilevers and capitals are fully integrated into the typical Romanesque of the Minho basin, but the entire general architectural plan of the work is exemplary of the typical model used by the Cistercian order. In the south area, some arcades pertaining to structures in the regular area of the monastery are noticeable.

National Monument since 1910, the Paço de Giela is a notable example of medieval and modern private civil architecture. Its origin, like that of the old Santa Cruz Castle, is deeply linked to the origin and formation of the land of Valdevez. When the castle ceased its activity as a strategic point, the building of Giela's “house-tower” marks a new moment of protection and stately and royal dominion over the area. Currently, the medieval tower is visible as well as the residential body with “Manueline” windows and a fortified entrance. The tower was built in the middle of the 14th century. At the end of the 15th century, beginning of the 16th, the residence area was built and was completed in 1573. In 1662, Portuguese artillery caused serious damage to the building by expelling the Spanish general Pantoja. In the 17th and 18th centuries, several modifications were made to the housing body, beginning in the 19th century a phase of decline and abandonment. In 1999 the property is acquired by the local authority.

Arborismo activity Bike ride