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Cities and places in Portugal

UNESCO Heritage in Portugal

Monasteries, historic towns, wine landscapes, prehistoric art and ancient forests: a guide to all of the country's UNESCO heritage.

Portugal has 17 sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List, a remarkable number for a country of its size. On top of these come many traditions recognised as intangible cultural heritage, geoparks and biosphere reserves.

The 17 World Heritage Sites

  1. Central Angra do Heroísmo, Azores (1983): the Renaissance port of call for the Indies fleets. See Angra do Heroísmo and Terceira.
  2. Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower, Lisbon (1983): masterpieces of Manueline. See Lisbon.
  3. Batalha Monastery (1983): the Gothic of the Aljubarrota victory. See Batalha.
  4. Convent of Christ in Tomar (1983): the Templars' rotunda. See Tomar.
  5. Historic centre of Évora (1986): the Roman temple and the white city. See Évora.
  6. Alcobaça Monastery (1989): the tombs of Pedro and Inês. See Alcobaça.
  7. Cultural Landscape of Sintra (1995): romantic palaces among forests. See Sintra.
  8. Historic centre of Porto, Luís I bridge and Serra do Pilar monastery (1996). See Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.
  9. Prehistoric rock art of the Côa valley and Siega Verde (1998, extended in 2010). See Vila Nova de Foz Côa.
  10. Laurisilva of Madeira (1999): the only natural site, a relict Tertiary forest. See Madeira.
  11. Historic centre of Guimarães and Couros zone (2001, extended in 2023). See Guimarães.
  12. Alto Douro Wine Region (2001): the port wine terraces. See the Douro valley.
  13. Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture (2004): the black lava enclosures. See Pico.
  14. Garrison border town of Elvas and its fortifications (2012). See Elvas.
  15. University of Coimbra, Alta and Sofia (2013). See Coimbra.
  16. Royal Building of Mafra, with basilica, convent, garden and hunting park (2019). See Mafra.
  17. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga (2019). See Braga.

Intangible heritage

UNESCO has also recognised several Portuguese traditions as intangible cultural heritage of humanity: fado (2011), the Mediterranean diet (2013, with other countries), cante alentejano (2014, see Serpa), the making of Alcáçovas cowbells (chocalhos) (2015), Bisalhães black pottery (2016, see Vila Real), Estremoz clay figures (2017, see Estremoz), the winter carnival of the caretos of Podence (2019) and falconry, shared with many countries.

Geoparks and biosphere reserves

Portugal has several UNESCO Global Geoparks, including Arouca, Naturtejo, Terras de Cavaleiros, Azores and Estrela, and many biosphere reserves: Paul do Boquilobo, Corvo, Graciosa, Flores, the Berlengas, Gerês-Xurés, Santana in Madeira, Porto Santo and others. See also natural parks, Arouca and the Serra da Estrela.