Cepo Verde

The rustic and pastoral landscapes of northern Portugal hint at the country’s history as a powerful seafaring kingdom, which helped to colonise the world from the Far East to America. It’s here, in the northern fringes of the Iberian Peninsula, that you find the Douro River, a spectacular waterway which cuts a course from the Spanish enclave of Duruelo de la Sierra to the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal’s captivating second city, Porto.

Discover this peaceful protected landscape in the northeast of Portugal, see your image reflected in the clear areas of the lagoon filled with various species of fish and amphibians, admire the lush vegetation, notably the wild orchids of all colours, and hike along the Azibo Trails or take a bracing dip at the River Beach of Fraga da Pegada.

It is probable that, in a village so close to the frontier, a defensive line was built in this place, still in the reign of D. Sancho I (licensor of the 1st charter in 1187). D. Dinis, at the end of the century. XIII, would have built the first castle (another "new castle" of the many that were built in its time), thus affirming the importance of the cluster. It is on this castle, or from it, that we build what we can see today. In 1377, D. Fernando reigned, the "village" was already completely surrounded; the source of the king - "well of the king" - and some cloths of wall must date of century. XV, already in the reign of D. Afonso V; on the north side of the wall, stands the Princess Tower, which was part of the fortress and tells us a legend, was a prisoner of a Christian princess,