The town of Lamego, with about 24,000 people in its municipality, is one of the main centres of the Douro region in northern Portugal. It lies in a green, fertile valley a few kilometres from the river, surrounded by the terraced vineyards of the Alto Douro, a UNESCO site, where the grapes for port wine are grown before the wine ages in the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia. The centre, with its long public garden lined with Baroque mansions, is elegant and compact.
A little history
Lamego is a very old bishopric, dating from Visigothic times. According to tradition, in 1143 the first Cortes met here, acclaiming Afonso Henriques king of Portugal and setting the rules of succession to the throne, though historians believe the document describing them was written centuries later. The town prospered in the sixteenth century thanks to farming, wine, olive oil and wool, and in the eighteenth century it gained many Baroque churches and palaces.
The sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios
Lamego's landmark is the sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, on the hill of Santo Estêvão above the town. A monumental Baroque stairway of almost 700 steps, inspired by Bom Jesus in Braga, zigzags up past terraces, fountains, statues, obelisks and azulejo panels to the church, built from the mid-eighteenth century on the site of an old chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen. The view from the top over the town and mountains is superb.
Between late August and early September the town celebrates the festivities of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, one of the most important romarias in northern Portugal, with processions, parades, music and fairs: some pilgrims climb the stairway on their knees to fulfil a vow.
The cathedral and the museum
The Sé de Lamego, founded in the twelfth century, keeps its original Romanesque tower, while the rest of the building was redone in Gothic and later Baroque style: inside, the vaults painted with Old Testament scenes, attributed to the circle of the Italian Nicolau Nasoni, and the cloister stand out.
The Lamego Museum, in the former bishop's palace, is one of the richest regional museums in the country: it displays sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries, Baroque chapels of gilded wood and above all the panels painted by Vasco Fernandes, known as Grão Vasco, including the famous Creation of the Animals.
Surroundings
About three kilometres from the centre is the small chapel of São Pedro de Balsemão, one of the oldest Christian buildings in Portugal, with parts from the Visigothic or early medieval period and an interesting statue of the pregnant Virgin. Some fifteen kilometres away, in Tarouca, stands the monastery of São João de Tarouca, the country's first Cistercian monastery, with a Saint Peter by Grão Vasco, while at Ucanha you can cross a rare fortified medieval bridge.
Lamego is also the ideal starting point for the Douro valley, with its quintas, wineries offering tastings and postcard views such as those at Peso da Régua or the São Leonardo de Galafura viewpoint.
Food and wine
Lamego's cooking, often born in its convents, is based on the valley's produce. Specialities include bôlas de Lamego, breads filled with ham, meat or sardines, Lamego ham, roast kid and lamb with potatoes and rice, trout in escabeche, and among desserts convent pastries and sweets made with eggs and chila, candied squash. Besides port, Lamego produces the region's sparkling wines, including those of the historic Raposeira cellar.