Tarouca

In the valley of the Varosa, where the Douro plateau begins its long drop to the river, Tarouca keeps one of the foundational places of Portugal: the monastery of São João de Tarouca, the first Cistercian house in the young kingdom, founded here in the twelfth century with the support of Afonso Henriques. The town grew in the monastery’s shadow, and its granite streets still breathe that age.

The first monastery of the Cister

The monastery’s church survives whole after the religious orders were dissolved in 1834: inside are gilded altarpieces, an early polyptych, eighteenth-century tiles that tell the house’s foundation and a Romanesque granite tomb of the Infante D. Pedro, count of Barcelos, lying with a dog at his feet. Around the church stand the monastic ruins — cloisters, refectory, pharmacy and cells — where the monks shaped the valley for six centuries. A second Cistercian house, the monastery of Salzedas, lies a few kilometres away in the same valley.

Towers, wine and the walking country

The municipality’s heritage spreads across its parishes: the fortified medieval tower of Ucanha guards a crossing of the Varosa, and the plateau villages keep chapels and manor houses among the vineyards of the demarcated Douro. Walking routes cross the valley, and the wine country of Armamar and the cathedral town of Lamego lie within easy reach.

What to see

• The church and ruins of the monastery of São João de Tarouca
• The Romanesque tomb of the Infante D. Pedro
• The fortified tower of Ucanha
• The monastery of Salzedas in the same valley
• The vineyards and walking tracks of the Varosa

Practical information

Tarouca lies in the Viseu district, in the Douro sub-region, on the roads between Lamego and the plateau. Bring layers for the valley winds, drive with care on the narrow roads, and check the official websites before setting out.

Image credit: Igreja de São João de Tarouca – Portugal by Vitor Oliveira — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.