Lamego – Places to visit
Lamego is a very old city, dating from Roman times. It was here that the legendary Cortes de Lamego took place, where D. Afonso Henriques was acclaimed as King of Portugal and the “Rules of Succession to the Throne” were established. Only with this introduction we realize that we are facing a city full of history and knowledge.
This way, no time will be wasted if you save a little of your summer holidays for a magnificent visit to this city located in the heart of the Douro. The accesses here are formidable and many are the places that will deserve your attention.
So book a few days on the agenda, book a few nights in a very Douro space like Hotel Lamego, take the time for a small Douro Cruise as you are in these lands and fall in love with one of the most genuine and naturally places in the country. beautiful. And to help you have a good day, we’ve made a list of what you can’t miss!
Lamego Cathedral
And because Portuguese culture is strongly mixed with religious culture, one of the best places to visit is the Sé de Lamego, founded in 1129. It is a Gothic cathedral, which maintains the original square tower, although the rest of the church’s structure reflects the modifications. made in the 16th and 18th centuries, including a Renaissance cloister. Its original Romanesque profile has been changed, but its beauty and grandeur are present for its charm.
Large, the chancel was reformulated in the eighteenth century, having an altarpiece of the late seventeenth, combining marbles and gilded. The windows, doors, arches and their two organs are decorated by ostentatious gilded carvings. The main altar of the Blessed Sacrament has a laborious silver front, the work of a Porto goldsmith and dated from the third quarter of the eighteenth century that amazes those who stop there.
Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies
Continuing on the religious theme, another sacred place to visit in Lamego is the Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies, located in the parish of Sé, at the top of St. Stephen’s Mount. Since 1984, the Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies, including the staircase and park, has been classified as a Public Interest. When you visit the Sanctuary you will get to know its history and realize that in 1361 this was a place of devotion to another imposing figure of the Catholic Church: St. Stephen. The present shrine was begun in 1750 and only completed in 1905. Its traditional festivals take place annually from 6 to 8 September.
The temple has, on its façade, traces of the Baroque and Rococo style, both normally much appreciated for its beauty and elegance. Outside stands the monumental stairway to the sanctuary, with 686 steps, developing in nine flights, decorated with chapels, statues, fountains, and obelisks. It may be tiring, but it is absolutely unusual, as is the chestnut tree which is located next to the Sanctuary which, since 1940, has been classified as a “Tree of Public Interest”.
Lamego Municipal Library
If you enjoy reading and are particularly attracted by cataloging techniques and literary offerings for all ages, be sure to visit the Lamego Municipal Public Library, created on November 6, 1989, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. It is to be remembered that this was one of the great aspirations of the city which, luckily, is the depository of famous incunabula from past ages that the bishops have collected. Its past actually dates back to other times, although not in its present location. The Lamego Municipal Library was built with the bookstore of the former Episcopal Palace. Nowadays it is located at 9 de Almacave Street, from 9h00 to 12h30 and from 14h00 to 17h30.
Lamego Museum
Already the Lamego Museum is in the historic center of the city, in the old Episcopal Palace, a building rebuilt in the second half of the eighteenth century, under the patronage of Bishop Manuel de Vasconcelos Pereira. Nowadays, the Lamego Museum is an important reference in the regional, national, and even international panorama, given the quality and uniqueness of some of its works of art. The objects classified in 2006 by the Portuguese State as Treasures are of special relevance. Nationals: a medieval sarcophagus decorated with a bas-relief hunting scene, the panels Vasco Fernandes painted for the See of Lamego between 1506-1511, the set of Flemish tapestries woven in Brussels in the first half of the 16th century, and the figured tiles with 17th century bucolic and hunting scenes.
There are few countries with as many interesting museum and exhibition options as there are in Portugal. With a long history to tell, you can be sure that Lamego’s will be on his podium of the best he has ever visited because it includes works of painting (16th-18th centuries), sculpture (13th, 14th, 17th and 18th centuries) especially religious, jewelery (15th to 20th centuries), civil and religious, ceramics and tiles (16th to 20th centuries), archeology (Roman, medieval and baroque), chapels and altars (17th and 18th centuries), means of transport (18th centuries) and XIX) and furniture (17th to 19th centuries).
Lamego Theater
Virtually also an open-air museum piece is the Ribeiro Conceição Theater. The building was built in 1727 with the purpose of operating the Hospital da Misericórdia. Later, in 1886, the Regiment Headquarters of the city of Lamego suffered a great fire and Mercy gave it the space of the old hospital. However, the following year, this fatality also haunted this building, being reduced to rubble.
In 1924 it is bought by public auction by José Ribeiro Conceição, who then builds the theater that today bears his name, maintaining the original eighteenth century façade. Inaugurated on February 2, 1929, it was acquired by the municipality in 1989, being opened again on February 23, 2008. Since then, it has received professional and amateur shows from all areas and still works as a dance school. Check the schedule for the days when you want to visit and, if there are no shows scheduled, you can always “get lost” in its corridors where all this history took place.
Medicine Fountain
Believing that you will be lucky and find good weather on your visit to Lamego, we also propose to visit another of the most charming places in Lamego: the Fountain of Remedies, whose project is designed by Nicolau Nasoni. This fountain was built in 1738. In the stonework it looks over the two spouts that spout uninterrupted water (there is no record of ever having dried up!). The water comes from two mines above the park. At the top has a cross adorned laterally by two fleur-de-lis, which give it all the elegance and distinctive look associated with the monarchy. It is classified as a Property of Public Interest and, next to it, will make beautiful photographs to remember very much miss Lamego.
Giants’ Fountain
Located in the Courtyard of the Kings, the Fountain of the Giants is part of a framework of great architectural value that also deserves your appreciation and visit. In the center of this majestic courtyard stands an obelisk supported by… four giants, from the mouth of which come streams of water that will feed a large glass. This is an unusual and very beautiful setting, situated in Largo dos Reis.
Lamego Garden
Before you leave, rest before the unique beauty of Lamego Garden with its many trees, garden benches and a small bandstand (always magical, isn’t it?). Early fall or beautiful spring days have the perfect frame here to shine. Here tiredness and anxiety are “at the door”. Sit down, take a deep breath, and do the much-needed mental cleansing and tidying that precedes the changes we always intend to make after a magical vacation like going to Lamego.
