Sabugal Route

Elephant of Sortelha

The statue reflects the high importance of the elephant symbol in the region.

POINT OF INTEREST LOCATION

Centro Histórico de Sortelha

HOW TO ARRIVE

Sortelha Historic Center

More points of interest

Sabugal Municipal Museum

Housed in a building dating from 1883, opened in 2003 the Sabugal Museum aims to protect and safeguard the historical and cultural heritage of the territory, to present, value and promote different forms of artistic expression and knowledge giving primary importance to those related to Sabugal. The permanent exhibition tells the story of the human occupation of the lands of Riba Côa, where a significant part of the archaeological heritage is on display, coming from private donations and deposits, loans from other museums, and from the prospections and excavations carried out in recent years in the municipality.

Historical Centre of Sortelha

Walled all around, the historical centre of Sortelha has four gates that allowed the connection with the outside world: Porta da Vila or Porta do Concelho, Porta Nova, Porta Falsa and the small Porta da Traição, located in the castle. Here we are taken on a journey back more than 800 years to the medieval era due to the almost untouched state of its medieval layout, castle and walls.

Sortelha Castle

It is of Romanesque and Gothic style with some Manueline additions. It is accessed through the Castle Gate where the royal coat of arms of King Manuel I and the armillary sphere are represented, It is composed of a Keep, with a balcony and machicolation, the Torre do Facho, the Cisterna, and also a false door and the small Porta da Traição.

Prison and Arab house of Sortelha

It is a simple building of popular architecture, with only one floor and that conserves on the access door the following inscription: "IHVS AVE MA" - Jesus Ave Maria. The construction must date back to the 15th / 16th century, bearing in mind the bevelled doorposts and the inscription in Gothic cursino.

Pillory of Sortelha

Manueline in style, this pillory, probably built in the 16th century, stands at a central point of the medieval town and is composed of an octagonal shaft topped by a capital with the national coat of arms with pinnacles at the top and a coronet with an armillary sphere.

Church of Sortelha/ Nossa Senhora das Neves

An early building, perhaps built in the 14th century, it functioned at the time as a watchtower, but remodelled in 1573, it now has a single nave and a chancel, which despite their medieval origins show a strong Renaissance influence.

Church of Sra da Graça

It is a Catholic temple whose 18th century ex-vows in the chapel made Saramago go to Sabugal in his Journey to Portugal, but he returned discouraged not to have seen them. The ex-vows of Our Lady of Grace are now properly restored and exposed in the chapel of the sanctuary for those who want to see these authentic masterpieces of sacred art and some of them dedicated to Our Lady of Grace, in which the miracle she granted a nun, affected with cancer in a breast, but who was saved by divine intervention, is thanked.

Sabugal Castle

Also referred to as the Castelo das Cinco Quinas (Castle of the Five Corners), due to the unusual shape of its pentagonal keep, it is believed to have been commissioned by King Dinis at the same time as he granted it its charter at the end of the 13th century. It served its military function once in a while, but also as a prison, having been abandoned and its walls dismantled for the construction of several houses in the town and the castle's square of arms began to serve as a cemetery, all this in the 19th century, and only in the 1940s of the 20th century was it possible to stop this degradation.

Misericórdia Church of Sabugal

A Romanesque-style Catholic temple, it is thought to have been built between the 13th and 14th centuries and remodelled in the 16th century in order to adapt it to the functions required by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia. Built with a rectangular plan, single nave and lower and narrower chancel, it has a straight lintel window and a full arch inside.

Vilar do Touro Castle

The Castle belonged to the Order of the Temple until its extinction in 1319, which prevented the fortress' defences from being improved and over the years it ended up being completely ruined, with only a Gothic arched door remaining and some traces of the walls.

Alfaiates Castle

It was called Castillo de La Luna because it seemed to be near the moon and must have been built in the 12th or already in the 13th century. The castle played a valuable role in the defence of the national territory during the French Invasions and is an excellent example of Romanesque-Gothic square-shaped military architecture, with the citadel well guarded by a double belt of walls.

Vilar Maior Castle

The origin of the castle of Vilar Maior may be Arabic, or even Roman. Irregular oval plan, with monumental keep of square plan, adjoined to the wall covered by adarve and with cistern. Nowadays the castle is in ruins, but there are still the keep and traces of the town's walls, such as the arch of one of the gates.

Archaeological Site of Sabugal

Sabugal Archaeological Site corresponds to the ruins of Sabugal Velho and the remains cover the whole of the top of a small relief, indicating that Sabugal Velho is one of the fundamental archaeological sites for the study and understanding of the proto-history of Beira Interior and the Leonian presence in the lands of Riba-Côa. The settlement has been rehabilitated to be visited by the population and the materials from the archaeological campaigns are on display in the current Museu Municipal do Sabugal, and are one of its main attractions.

House of Jewish Memory

In the two-storey building, explanatory panels show the relationship of this border region with the Jews and crypto-Jews (supposedly Christians because they were baptised but professed the Jewish faith in secret). The House also has some graphic contents accompanied by texts that evoke the presence of Jewish communities in this old town.

Centre for Environmental Education

This Environmental Education Centre includes buildings with pedagogical and technical functions, laboratories and nurseries, as well as an educational vegetable garden. Here actions are carried out with schools, guided visits to the forest nursery and didactic workshops.

Dolmen of Sacaparte

Near the convent of Sacaparte, the dolmen of Sacaparte is the only preserved megalithic testimony in the municipality of Sabugal, although quite destroyed.

Church of Misericórdia de Alfaiates

Church of only one nave, with romanic and gothic characteristics, built in the 13th or 14th century. Inside there is a decorated baptismal font and, on the eastern wall, the rest of a fresco representing Christ Crucified.

Cave Crannies

Of Roman and/or lower middle age origin, these rectangular-shaped caterpillars dug into the rock were mainly used for treading grapes. Orientated towards the east, as tradition dictates, they are situated right next to the municipal 535 road, and are well identifiable even without entering the private grounds.

Mosaics Exhibition

On the way to Sortelha, you will pass by a viewpoint called "Exposição de Mosaicos", where open-air mosaic constructions are exhibited. It is advisable to visit at sunset because of the way the rays fall on the tiles.

Sacaparte Convent

Built in the 18th century, it was occupied by monks dedicated to the care of the sick and pilgrims and later a seminary and medical teaching establishment. Like so many other establishments, it was abandoned in 1834 and only the walls of the two floors remain standing.

Cró Thermal Spa

The use of the medicinal waters of the Cró dates back to the Roman era, and became famous with D. João V, who already at the time spoke of its remarkable curative effects. Currently, they have a brand new and modern thermal spa, a Wellness and physiotherapy area and also a 4-star hotel surrounded by natural landscapes, ancient ruins, streams and mountains creating a unique atmosphere that contributes to tranquillity and well-being.

House of Cerca

Cró Rural Hotel

Palheiro do Castelo II - Studio

Palheiro do Castelo III - Patio

Palheiro do Castelo I - Logradouro

House D. Dinis

House of Triste

House Santa Isabel

House of Campanario 2

House of Campanário 1

House of Villa

House of Calçada

Casa da Lagariça

House of Bela Vista

Houses of Torreão

Restataurant Cró - Côa Sabores

Restaurant Robalo

Restaurant El Dorado

Restaurant Casa da Esquila

Restaurant D. Sancho

Restaurant Zé Nabeiro

Restaurant Trutalcôa

Restaurant Domingos Ambrósio