Rutas Turísticas

Percurso

The ‘Raia’, which is what they call the border from both sides, crosses the valley of the Tâmega and the mountains that surround it in a whimsical way. The river flows through it, ignoring the divisions created by men, but the observant traveller will notice as villages and landscapes change. Taking the Raia in direct contact with the landscape is a game to discover what remains unchanged on both sides, as the identity of a land that changes. You will also discover the contrasts between the meadow and the surrounding mountains.

 

The ‘Raia’ Fortresses BTT Route takes you by Chaves-Verín showing its ancient defensive structures. Since the Middle Ages, and in particular, with the Restoration War, which separated the Spanish and Portuguese crowns in the seventeenth century, castles and forts were erected to ensure the positions before the enemy: Monterrei Castle, remains of the Verín wall, São Neutel and São Francisco Forts, Menagem Tour and Santo Estêvão Castle and Monforte de Rio Livre; all of them are worth a visit.

 

Between castles and fortresses, you will pass through towns that will tell you the other side of the ‘Raia’, of the movement of people, the mixing of accents, the old smuggling and the promiscuous people, such as Lamadarcos, formerly settled on the same border and split into two kingdoms.