Calçada de Alpajares

Calçada de Alpajares is located in the parish of Poiares, in the municipality of Freixo de Espada à Cinta, and is part of a section of an ancient Roman road with a total length of eight thousand kilometers. This particular stretch of road in Trás-os-Montes is one kilometer long and has been classified as a Property of Public Interest since 1977. This winding trail on cobbled and dirt roads is located in the heart of the Douro International Natural Park and is considered one of the most fascinating routes in Portugal. Under schist arches and between steep valleys, the road winds around the Calçada de Alpajares, also known as the Ribeira do Mosteiro road or Estrada do Candedo. It is a superb panoramic route made up of pieces of ancient history, surrounded by a chaos of rocks and with an extensive and important geological story to tell, with natural walls of quartzite outcrops and the geometry of the route, of varying altitude and a landscape of steep slopes and imminent precipices. It reveals traces of an ancient human presence, as evidenced by the cave paintings of Fraga do Gato, which are over eight thousand years old, and the ancient settlement known as Castro de São Paulo, dating back to the Bronze Age and with traces of Roman occupation. At the highest point of this pedestrian route there are medieval graves carved into the rocks. The Calçada de Alpajares is therefore considered to be a medieval road, probably dating back to the First Dynasty, of extreme importance until the beginning of the 20th century, before the Estado Novo roads. It connected the lands of Miranda, to the north, to the Ribacôa area, to the south. The route would be closer to the River Douro as far as Freixo de Espada à Cinta. From here it would head towards the Serra de Poiares and the village of the same name. From Poiares it would follow an east-west and then north-south direction until it reached Monte de São Paulo, descending in a zigzag pattern until it reached the Ribeira do Brita and continuing until it entered the valley of the Ribeira do Mosteiro, following its left bank until it crossed an old bridge further down, the Diabo bridge. On the right bank of the stream, it progressively moved away from its mouth and followed a path until it reached Barca d'Alva.