Things to do in Amarante, Northern Portugal: The Best Churches & Cathedrals

The former mother Church of Real (replaced in 1938) is a 14th-century building. The main façade reveals a period that was already announcing the arrival of the Gothic style: the portal has a slightly broken arch with no tympanum; the columns are slender and are topped by capitals whose sculpture is not so bulky or expressive. On the south façade there is still an arcosolium with a tomb, whose lid shows a carved sword. Inside, we can still see Romanesque consecration crosses inscribed in a circle.

Once a monastic Church, in the 16th century, Telões was already secularised and was under the Collegiate of Guimarães, who held its right of patronage. This may explain the artistic campaign that led to the covering of the walls of the nave and the chancel with frescoes, from which only a fragment, depicting the birth of Jesus Christ (Nativity), remains. Built at the turn of the 12th to the 13th century, it underwent deep transformations over the following centuries. This Church is part of the Route of the Romanesque.

This small Church was built in the 12th century, fitting in the category of late Romanesque style. It was the seat of a female monastery that was probably founded by someone from the Gundares lineage. It was secularised in 1455 by D. Fernando Guerra, the archbishop of Braga. Its primitive Romanesque structure has undergone very few changes over the centuries. The outer archivolt of the main portal shows a chequered motif, which was very popular in Portuguese Romanesque style. This Church is part of the Route of the Romanesque.

The Church of Gatão is a monument that marks a chronological construction arc that ranges between the 13th and the 14th centuries, emerging as a building that combines Romanesque elements (the cornice with little arches on the chancel and the main portal) with other elements that already announce the Modern Period, namely the mural paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries in the chancel and nave. It stands out from the landscape due to its isolated location, which adds to its uniqueness. This Church is part of the Route of the Romanesque.

A monastic complex located in a fertile valley and composed of a Church, a bell tower and traces of the primitive cloister and porch. The Church's façade is the only element that remains from the Romanesque construction. Composed of three archivolts, the main portal shows finely sculpted capitals, with animal and vegetal motifs. The Church's interior is sober and simple; there, the fresco depicting the scene of the Adoration of the Magi (or Epiphany), ascribed to the Bravães I workshop, is worthy of attentive examination. This Monastery is part of the Route of the Romanesque.

Once a monastic Church, Lufrei was secularised in 1455, like the Church of Gondar (Amarante). Here there was a female community associated with the Benedictine Order, of which no traces remain. Located in a valley, close to the intersection between two small water courses, the Church of Lufrei fits into the late Romanesque style and it is a legacy of the popularity it achieved within the rural communities of Northern Portugal. On the interior, highlight goes to its decorative fresco murals. This Church is part of the Route of the Romanesque.