Towns and Villages

Situated in the valley of the River Ave, this town first developed around the monastery of São Bento, founded in the tenth century, which was also known as Santo Tirso de Riba de Ave.

The region's largest religious festival is held here every July in honour of São Bento (St. Benedict).

Close by is the spa of Caldas da Saúde, which is not only equipped with all the facilities necessary for thermal cures, but also has a curious exhibition of the instruments most commonly used in spa treatments at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Of particular interest in the surrounding area is the Romanesque church of Roriz (whose origin dates back to the eighth century) and Citânia de Sanfins de Ferreira, an old pre-Roman settlement that was probably inhabited as long ago as the sixth century BC.