How about broadening your horizons and visiting such an ancient Portuguese city, dating back to Roman times? And that it is located deep in the interior of the country? Because if the answer is yes, such a city is Lamego, in the north of the country, close to the Douro River. It ended up being reconquered from Moorish rule in 1057 by Fernando Magno de Leão.
When the current district system was established in 1835, Lamego was initially intended as the district headquarters but that same year the headquarters was moved to Viseu, because of its more central location. But while Lamego was the headquarters, important events occurred in the history of Portugal, such as the legendary Cortes de Lamego, where D. Afonso Henriques was acclaimed as King of Portugal and the “Rules of Succession to the Throne” were established.
The beautiful northern city is the seat of the region's diocese (the only Portuguese diocese that does not correspond to a district capital), and the municipality has several religious monuments, such as the Cathedral, the Church of São Pedro de Balsemão and the spectacular and grand Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies, which also gives its name to the annual Pilgrimage whose main day is September 8th, which is also the municipal holiday.
The sanctuary took a long time to build: the church was built in 1568 to replace the old temple from 1361 that collapsed. The exterior and its 686 steps arranged in nine flights (and which lead to Lamego's central square) took more than 150 years to complete, starting in 1750 and being completed only in 1905. The wealth of details is so great that on one of the flights there is 18 giant stone statues of the ancient kings of Israel, who belong to the lineage of the Virgin. On another flight, at the base of the stairs, there is a beautiful allusion to the four seasons.
It is worth visiting the beautiful and peaceful city of Lamego, the former seat of the district and located in the Douro region. The city is 347 km from the capital Lisbon and just over 130 km from the city of Porto. It doesn't matter where you leave, what matters is that you visit the beautiful city of Lamego and venture up the 686 steps of the Nossa Senhora dos Remédios Sanctuary, a work as grand as the mountains where it was built.