The best walks and hikes around Balazar

In Arcos, the highlight is its charming Romanesque bridge: the Ponte de São Miguel de Arcos, or simply Ponte de Arcos. It's estimated that this medieval bridge's origins date back to the 12th century. After years of supporting road traffic, it was freed from that burden in 2018 and is now pedestrian-only. A peaceful crossing with centuries of history beneath your feet.

The Dom Zameiro Bridge crosses the Ave River in a bucolic setting of vineyards and fields, connecting the parishes of Bagunte and Macieira da Maia. Although reminiscent of Roman architecture, its origins date back to the 12th or 13th centuries. Part of the old Via Veteriz, the medieval road that connected Porto to Barcelos and Esposende, it continues to welcome pilgrims today, with a small resting place. Windmills and a rural house complete the serene picture of a place where time seems to slow down.

You can take a break on it 😬

Unique place with excellent landscape and tranquility

In the parish of Santa Eulália de Arnoso, municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, at the foot of the hill commonly known as Santa Baia. near the Ponte do Olhoiro bridge, which crosses a rocky stream, there is a cave that the people, since ancient times, have named - Buraco do Scout. The Hole of the Looker is a subterranean path that is approximately a quarter of a league up to the Palhares hill, where there used to be a Moorish castle, and by the way, stones and bricks from the castle can still be found there. "But Jesus! It was a long time ago: I heard him tell my mother (may God speak in his soul) that her father already told him Now, as I was saying, there lived in this parish, in the times of the pagans and the Moors, a farmer who had a herd of oxen that he sent to graze there at the foot of the Hole of the Lookout. One of the cows came from the hill, always fuller than the others, but what he admired was that the cow had a calf, and when she went to court she never brought milk. The farmer suspected that they were taking him out that way, and, after that, he went to look out and saw that the cow had entered the Hole in the Hole, and when she was already far away, he ran after her and even grabbed her tail. . The cow went and went, going under the subterranean, and when it got there to the foot of the hill Palhares, began to graze in a meadow of rich grass. Meanwhile, the Moors and many Moors appeared, who said nothing to the farmer, who was blessed by what he saw... One of the Moors went to milk the cow, but the farmer never untied himself from the tail, if he wasn't enchanted there. The cow, after grazing until it was satisfied, left and the farmer followed her, still tied up, and when he got home he told his wife everything, but he was so haggard that after three days he died. That's how it became known that there are Moorish and enchanted Moorish people in the Hole of the Lookout; much wealth and even golden bells, which the little man (God rest his soul) saw inside. Even today, no young man, even if he is a bully, dares to spend the night near the Hole of the Lookout because bad things and sorcery stop there. Source: Abílio de Magalhães Brandão

Protohistoric settlement with Roman and Medieval occupation. It has an elongated shape Northeast-Southwest, with a central enclosure delimited by a wall and, in connection with the spur, a defensive reinforcement consisting of two ditches and a slope. Towards the Northwest and Southeast, there are some platforms. Archaeological excavations carried out between 1983 and 1987 reveal a continuous occupation between the 19th and 19th centuries. 5 . IV BC. and the sec. I of our Era. The walls and the various excavated domestic structures, as well as the abundant ceramic and metal loot attributable to the end of the 17th century. I BC / beginning of the century. I AD are revealing of the great dynamism that Castro das Ermidas achieved in the final phase of Castro culture. (Other names: Palhares, Ermidas, Monte de Palhares, Hermitages)

One of the first news concerning Amoso dates from 1077, confirming the existence of the parish of Santa Eulália. Implanted in a low and marshy place, the Church of the former monastery of Arnoso has a location that is not common in the Portuguese Romanesque and that could have been one of the causes of the reduction of the its constructive program. Although it is not possible to confirm its place of origin, the date of 1156 is inscribed on the tympanum of the south portal. Another epigraph, now detached, was removed during the restoration work carried out by the DGEMN from the outer face of the north wall. of the nave, next to the first buttress. Its original position seems to confirm the date of one of the phases of the Romanesque construction: | 124. The walls of the most eastern portion of the nave are lined with blind arcades, as they were initially intended for the transept, indicating a program designed for the construction of a temple on a larger scale. At the head, the figurative sculpture stands out, whose meaning seems to be that of struggle, tension and threat, pointing to the presence of evil forces and to the permanent struggle between man and evil entities.

The Rio Ave flows through a "valley" in this very attractive area. Hydroelectric power was used extensively here. You can see some watermills here.