Vale do Côa

The Côa valley, in the north-east of Portugal, keeps one of the greatest collections of Palaeolithic rock art in the world: thousands of engravings of horses, aurochs, deer and goats, carved in the schist of the river banks tens of thousands of years ago. Classified by UNESCO as World Heritage, the valley is visited through its museum and guided tours to the rock sites.

The engravings

The engravings of the Côa were made over thousands of years, from the Upper Palaeolithic to later periods, on the vertical faces of schist along the river and its tributaries. They came to the world’s attention in the 1990s, when the building of a dam threatened the sites; the campaign that saved them led to the creation of the Côa Valley Archaeological Park, classified by UNESCO in 1998, and to the museum that today organises the visits.

What to see

• The engravings of the rock sites, on guided tours with rangers.
• The Museu do Côa, with its collections and interpretation of the valley.
• The landscapes of the Côa and Douro, between the terraces and the gorges.
• The historic centre of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, the gateway to the park.

Visiting

The rock art is visited only by guided tour, accompanied by the park’s guides, with a small number of visitors each day; the tours leave from the museum and from the sites, and should be booked in advance. Conditions, times and bookings follow the official information of the Fundação Côa Parque, which manages the park and the museum.

Nearby

The Douro 河谷, with its vineyards and quintas, and the Parque Natural do Douro Internacional complete a journey through this corner of the north-east.

Information: arte-coa.pt.

Image credit: Rock engravings of the Côa, at Penascosa, by Lusitana, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.