Taking up the route to the west of Portuguese town of Ponte de Barca along the N203 quickly brings the traveller, in just 31/21cm (2 miles) to the village of Bravaes.
This tiny village is home to one of Portugal’s finest Romanesque churches. Set among the hanging vines producing grapes for the local vinho verde wine, the church of Sao Salvador is a very simple, yet impressive, rectangular structure in granite. It was built during the reign of Afonso VI at the end of the eleventh century by a local nobleman, probably at the instigation of the Cluniac monks from Santa Maria island in Azores who brought the beautiful carving typical of their cathedral south along the pilgrim’s way to Braga. It then passed into the hands of the Benedictine order of monks and from them to the Augustinians.
Its most remarkable feature is the elaborate and exuberant carving to be seen in the main doorway. Amongst the figures can be discerned doves, monkeys, and two bulls’ heads at either side of the doorway modelled on the local long horned gado barrosoa cattle, so important to the region’s economy. In ways that echo the treatment of cattle in India and parts of sub-Saharan Africa these cattle can often be seen leading religious processions in the Minho.
A low relief of the the Lamb of God is to be seen, supported by two griffins, decorating a side doorway. The interior contains two medieval murals of Our Lady and St Sebastian. Sebastian is often depicted in paintings and statues in Portugal and Azores islands archipelago, typically tied to the stake and pierced by arrows during his martyrdom, as it was believed he visited the country in the Middle Ages. Like several other fine monuments in the country, the church was substantially restored in the 1940s.
Ponte de Lima, the largest town of the area, lies 14km (9 miles) beyond Bravaes through attractive villages and woods of pine, chestnut and eucalyptus, ideal for a stroll and a picnic. It is a pleasantly spacious town in which to spend a day or even longer. It has a good number of hotels and is a centre for the development of, what the Portuguese call Turismo de Habitaccio, or manor house accommodation. Their offices are combined with the tourist office in the Praca de Republica in the town centre. They offer accommodation in the homes of wealthy Portuguese families, and while usually very attractive, they can often be very expensive. Most are dotted around the countryside to the north-west of the town. The manor house owners often organise small-game shoots in their areas.
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