Santuário de Santa Luzia

The Templo do Sagrado Coração de Jesus, always called Santa Luzia, was built between 1904 and 1959 on a hill above Viana do Castelo in a neo-Byzantine manner modelled loosely on Sacré-Cœur in Paris, with a large central dome, rose windows and a granite front. A narrow stair and a lift climb inside to a gallery around the dome, from which the Lima estuary, the town, the coast and the mountains inland are laid out - a view that has been called one of the finest in Europe, a claim repeated so often locally that it is worth treating as marketing rather than fact, though it is genuinely very good. A funicular of 1923, the longest in Portugal, runs up from the town. Behind the basilica are the excavated remains of the Citânia de Santa Luzia, an Iron Age hillfort of round stone houses occupied into the Roman period.

What to look for

• The basilica - a neo-Byzantine dome built between 1904 and 1959.
• The dome gallery - the estuary, coast and mountains from the top.
• The funicular - the longest in Portugal, running from the town since 1923.
• The hillfort - excavated Iron Age round houses behind the church.

When to go

April to October. Two hours including the dome and the hillfort. The funicular runs to a timetable that shortens out of season.

Practical notes

The final stage to the dome gallery is a very narrow spiral stair after the lift - claustrophobic and not for everyone. The dome climb is ticketed separately. The Iron Age site is another ticket. Cloud and rain in the Minho hide the view often.

Nearby

Viana do Castelo's old town is below; the Lima estuary and its beaches are west.