Other

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the mediaeval town expanded beyond the walled promontory built by its founder, D. Dinis, and new palatial and bourgeois dwellings were built, aligned along new streets, now located between the Avenida Carvalho Araújo and the modern Avenida Marginal, cut into the side of the ravine of the river Corgo.

We begin our journey by walking through Rua Camilo Castelo Branco, located right of the Town Hall, where a memorial plaque indicates the manor house (Casa das Brocas) with coat of arms that belonged to the ancestors of the writer and novelist, Camilo Castelo Branco. In the same street, it's also possible to see the house where Carvalho Araújo lived.

We continue our journey down the Rua da Misericórdia, that includes the old Church of Misericórdia. Further on, we encounter a triangular area, where every year on June 29, on the occasion of the feast of São Pedro, a picturesque fair of small pottery articles is held. In the same zone, we can see the elegant facade of the Church of the Clérigos, a masterpiece by the Italian architect, Nicolau Nasoni.

We continue along the long and winding Rua Direita, which was built in the 17th century and is one of the most typical roads in Vila Real, with a high number of traditional commercial establishments, many of which have maintained their original facades. Visitors should also take note of houses ornamented with decorated verandas, with gracious wrought ironwork and windows framed by granite, that constitute a veritable gallery of classic Portuguese civil architecture. As we continue north, at a level above the Avenida Marginal, we encounter the municipal park.