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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

Chaves is surrounded by mountains and that brings windy and changing weather, so you'd better bring a jacket or an umbrella with you, at least in and autumn and winter.

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

Get around

Map
Map of Chaves

See

  • The Pedestrian Bridge and the Riverside Green Area. On 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. (updated Nov 2019)
  • 1 Castle of Monforte (Castelo de Monforte) (in Águas Frias). National Monument Castle of Monforte (Chaves) (Q5049791) on Wikidata Castle of Monforte (Chaves) on Wikipedia (updated Nov 2019)
  • Forte São Francisco. Strongly 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. (updated Nov 2019)

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.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Rural hotel

Hotel

Go next

Vidago, Pedras Salgadas.

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