Rota do Românico

The Rota do Românico links fifty-eight monuments across twelve municipalities in the valleys of the Sousa, Tâmega and Douro east of Porto - churches, monasteries, memorials, towers and bridges built mostly between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, when this was the heartland of the emerging kingdom and the nobility founded religious houses across it. The buildings are small and rural by European Romanesque standards: thick granite walls, single naves, carved corbels with animal and human heads, tympanum reliefs, and little decoration beyond that, which is the character of Portuguese Romanesque. Highlights include the monastery of Paço de Sousa, Cete, Boelhe - one of the smallest Romanesque churches in the country - Travanca's tower, and the Ponte do Arco. The route was set up in the 1990s with signage, restoration and an interpretation centre, and it is best done by car over several days.

What you actually see

• The granite churches - thick-walled single naves with carved corbels and tympana.
• The scale - fifty-eight monuments across twelve municipalities.
• The small buildings - Boelhe among the smallest Romanesque churches in Portugal.
• The bridges and towers - medieval crossings and noble towers on the same route.

When to go

April to October. Two days to a week depending on how many sites you want. A car is essential; the interpretation centre at Lousada plans routes.

Honest expectations

Many churches are locked and need a keyholder - the route's website lists opening arrangements, which vary widely and change. The monuments are small and can blur together after several in a day. Rural roads are slow. Little English signage on site.

Nearby

Amarante is on the Tâmega; Porto is thirty to fifty kilometres west.