Chaves
Chaves is a beautiful city in Trás-os-Montes and one of the most historical cities in Portugal. Chaves is a town and seat of municipality in the far North of Portugal, 10 km south of the Spanish border and 22 km south of Verín, Spain. Is the second most populous of the district of Vila Real. The district capital, Vila Real, is 60 km south on the A24 toll-free motorway. Aquæ Flaviæ was the Roman name for this town.
Understand
Get in
By plane
The easy way to go to Chaves by plane is going to Oporto airport, and then catch a bus or highway to Chaves, which should take about one hour and half. There are low cost companies flying to Oporto, one of them is Ryanair.By train
There is no train service.By car
By bus
By boat
See
The Pedestrian Bridge and the Riverside Green AreaOn November 15 an extensive green area on the east side of the Tâmega River between the Engenheiro Carmona Bridge and the Public Gardens was opened to the public. It has a playground, pedestrian and cycling paths, and a large grassy area. An ultra-modern pedestrian bridge will soon be open linking the park of the hot springs and this new recreational area. At the same time a cycling and walking path has been built on both banks of the river extending north for several kilometers.
Castle of MonforteNational Monument
Forte São FranciscoStrongly protected by the defence of the border with Galicia, by the Middle Ages Chaves became unprotected. It had to fortify itself, garrison the nearby hilltops, in order to keep them from being occupied by enemy artillery. The first to be considered was the hill of Pedisqueira, where there was a Franciscan convent. During the final phase of the Portuguese Restoration War (1640-1668), the decision was made to build a fort according to the modern concepts of military engineering. This fort played an important role in the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal in 1807, when it was captured by Marshal Soult, and then retaken when a light garrison was left to guard it. It was also the scene of several pro-royalist revolts in the early eighteenth century and later in 1910. The fort is based on the Vauban system, with a four-pointed star, each one serving as a lookout tower. The walls are all of granite, with about 1 m of thickness. The height varies according to the slope of the terrain, but the maximum point has 20 m. The main entrance faces the south, with a drawbridge over the moat, that no longer exists. There are other gates, to the east and west. To go inside, follow a tunnel that leads to the center of the fort. Inside, there is the old church of São Francisco, where for three centuries lay the sarcophagus of the first Duke of Bragança.
Do
Watch football (soccer) at GD Chaves, who play in Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portuguese football. Their home ground is Estádio Municipal de Chaves (capacity 8,000), 1 km north of town centre.
There is a new casino as of 2019.
Eat
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Restaurante - Pensão Flávia
phone: +351 961 693 890address: Travessa Cândido dos Reis, 12, 5400-164
Sleep
Rural hotel
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phone: +351 276 300 0504-star rural hotel.
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Quinta de Samaiões - Hotel Rural
phone: +351 276 340 450address: R. Dr. Francisco de Barros Homem Teixeira 56, 5400-7564-star rural hotel
Hotel
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phone: +351 276 351 450address: Outeiro Jusão, 5400-5753-star hotel.
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Hotel Aquae Flaviae- Premium Chaves
phone: +351 276 309 000address: Praça do Brasil, 5400-1233-star hotel. -
phone: +351 276 333 700address: Largo Pedisqueira, 5400-4354-star hotel.
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Hotel Casino Chaves
phone: +351 276 309 600address: Vale de Anta, 5400-0014-star hotel. -
phone: +351 276 249 270address: Rua da Muralha, 4, 5400-4144-star hotel.