Barcelos lies on the bank of River Cávado. This distinguished city speaks for a municipality that is proud to be the biggest one in the country concerning the number of parishes (89) and the biggest one in Minho in terms of area (336 km2). Besides it is one of the rare cases in which the secondary sector accounts for most of the jobs (65%). Barcelos is situated on the road axis Guimarães, Braga, Viana do Castelo and is right next to the highway connecting Braga and Valença.
Barcelos is also included in the Routes to Santiago: that is why the city has been thus called – Barcelos derives from the Latin words Barc+ellus (boat of the pilgrims or small boat). Barcelos is, therefore, the "gateway" to Alto Minho and Galicia.
According to the legend, an unfortunate Galician man (still called a pilgrim) arrived in the borough coming from Rates. The authorities became immediately suspicious of him. And a crime that had been committed a long time ago fitted him like a glove. It had been a "murder crime": the killer was still on the loose. There was no better solution than to arrest the pilgrim. His claims of innocence were of no use to him: he was soon found guilty and sentenced. Hanging. It seemed as though not even Santiago would help him. Nevertheless, the Galician fervently prayed to the Saint’s Jubilee. After all, was he going on a pilgrimage to the Apostle’s tomb or not?
Was the tomb the final stop or not of a trip that seemed to end there?
- May I be cursed if the Saint does not help me!
He asked the executioner to talk to the Judge. It was his last will and the friar made the sign of the Cross on hearing this heresy.
The judge and his friends were having a sumptuous meal and it was, therefore, unwillingly that he received the Galician.
- No, you have already been sentenced. You are the killer.
- No, repeated the Galician holding the "scallop", I am telling you the truth and to prove it I can assure you that that (well roasted) cock Your "Incellency" are about to eat will sing when you cut it through with those large teeth of yours!
The Judge laughed but he did not eat the fat cock’s thigh. Neither did his guests!
And according to this legend of the "fantastic" of Alto Minho, the cock did sing!
Barcelos is a valuable manuscript where History is an ever flowing stream of documents and deeds whose water can be drunk from the registers, from the century-old streets, from the seigniorial buildings, from the manor houses and family houses, from the churches and temples, from the coats of arms and dungeons.
In 1140/46 King Dom Afonso Henriques bestowed the Municipality Charter on Barcelos. He called it "my town", the town that was named Santa Maria de Barcelos. In the 1220 and 1226 Inquiries (Inquirições) it was under the jurisdiction of the parish of Neiva. In 1298, under king Dom Dinis, it was turned into a county; the first count was Dom João Telo de Menezes.
It was though Dom Afonso, 8th Count of Barcelos, bastard of King Dom João I and son-in-law of the army supreme commander (Condestável) Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, who changed the whole urban area of the town when he moved from Chaves to Barcelos in the early 15th century. Around 1412 he ordered the construction of the Paço dos Duques (Palace). The Paço was connected to the five-arch bridge (ponte) with cutwaters built in the Gothic style, to the walls (muralha) and to the Igreja Matriz (Parish Church). There were three towers along the walls - one by the bridge, another facing the valley and the dungeon (the only remaining and where the Centro de Artesanato (Crafts Centre and the Tourist Office are to be found). The Matriz (Parish Church) was rebuilt on a 13th-century Romanesque church that had the portico between two buttresses, five archivolted arches and highly decorated capitals.
Dating from the same time: the Solar dos Azevedos (manor house). Situated in the village of Lamas, this 16th-century building is regarded as the most magnificent manor house in northern Portugal; the Casa do Condestável (House of the Pereira Family) bearing the coat of arms of the Pereira family; the Solar dos Pinheiros that is thought to have been owned by Pedro Esteves, a judge of the Casa de Bragança (House of Bragança), the pelourinho (pillory); the Casa do Alferes de Barcelos (House of Barcelos’ second-lieutenant); the Largo (Square) do Apoio and its ancient fountain.
The historical centre of Barcelos is also worth visiting. There you can recognise the traces left by the town’s past life and past inhabitants: from pilgrims to friars from Vilar, from bastards to richmen, from merchants and artisans to noblemen. And you cannot forget Barcelos as agricultural and industrial capital, as queen of handicrafts. Let’s go to Franqueira - the holy mountain of the people from Barcelos, to the Convento do Bom Jesus da Franqueira (Convent). Let’s go the Castro (settlement) and Castelo de Faria (Castle) – this was the background of the historical fact that happened under King D. Fernando and was narrated by the Portuguese historian Fernão Lopes: "the castellan Nuno Gonçalves chose to die at the hands of the Castilians before letting his son, Gonçalo Nunes, give the keys to the castle to the enemy".
Now that you are on the top of the mountain, next to the Ermida da Senhora da Franqueira , you can only marvel at the unexpectedly beautiful scenery!
Minho is there for you to discover it: the peaks of the Serra do Gerês (mountains), the municipality of Terras de Bouro, the beaches of Riba Minho, the territory around the Serra do Soajo, the spurs of Senhora (Lady) da Peneda and Senhora do Sameiro, Barcelos and the luxuriant banks of the Cávado river.
This is Minho!
