Photos

The seat of the county, Ponte de Lima (25 km, 15 miles east of Viana do Castelo) is truly representative of the Minho region with its fine monuments, picturesque market and magnificent palaces and manor houses in the town and surrounding area. Some are integrated in a tourism scheme (partially opening to the public in return of aid from the state in their restoration) and welcome guests.

Ponte de Lima takes its name from the ancient bridge over the river Lima leading to the town and exhibiting 15 great stone arches of which four are from the original Roman construction.

Nearby, the 15th-century church of St. Anthony now lodges the Museu dos Terceiros, a museum of sacred art.

Ponte de Lima also boasts of a beautiful 17th-century fountain with the town's coat of arms, of the 15th-century fortress-palace of the Marqueses de Ponte de Lima, the Mother Church (1359-1567) with its rich interior decoration and many other monuments and splendid buildings.

The farms and estates near the town often exhibit stately manors, such as the Houses of Outeiro, Bárrio and Bela Vista at the village of Moreira do Lima, where the Romanesque Chapel of the Holy Spirit, with fine 17th-century retables, is also worth admiring.

Back to the seat of the county, a traditional market has been held since 1125, on alternate Mondays, on the left bank of the River Lima, where visitors may find embroidered linen, wickerwork and carved wooden furniture among other local handicrafts.

Each September, the «New Fairs», dating also from the 12th century, offer much merrymaking, music, folk dancing, fireworks and colourful processions in honour of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Ponte de Lima is also proud of its traditional gastronomy and fine sparkling "vinho verde" (green wine).

(Text from http://viajar.clix.pt/pt/dst3010.php?lg=en)