The São Leonardo de Galafura Viewpoint is a must-visit place, offering a unique view over the immense and imposing Douro.
The São Leonardo de Galafura Viewpoint is a must-visit place, offering a unique view over the immense and imposing Douro. Don't miss it.
The Miradouro de São Leonardo de Galafura is located in the municipality of Régua, close to Covelinhas, in the parish of Galafura.
Owner of an imposing 640 meters high, this viewpoint offers an unobstructed view over the Douro River and the magnificent surrounding landscape.
Nearby, there is also a chapel (with festivities on the penultimate weekend of August), a picnic area (with stone benches and plenty of shade, where you can have a picnic) and a geodesic landmark.
This is, therefore, a super pleasant space for a different afternoon with the family.
In the region of Trás-os-Montes, between Vila Real and Peso da Régua, close to Covelinhas and Gouvinhas, is this fabulous viewpoint, from where it is possible to admire the Douro landscape, characterized by the terraces associated with the vineyards and Douro wine.
At hundreds of meters of altitude, it is possible to glimpse, on clearer days, the regions of Armamar, Sabrosa, Tabuaço, Fontelo and Valença do Douro. In addition to the chapel, the picnic area and the geodesic landmark, there is also a tile panel in the space that displays a text by Miguel Torga.
The viewpoint is also an area of legends. It is said that there is an enchanted Moorish girl, Dona Mirra, who walks through the woods and, at night, takes refuge in a cave on the rocky slope, a kind of underground palace.
Miguel Torga was born a few kilometers from Galafura, in the village of São Martinho de Anta. For that reason, it is not surprising that he knew this viewpoint well and visited it several times to admire the Douro.
About this locality, the writer from Trás-os-Montes said that: “São Leonardo was like a boat with its keel in the air, which Nature had returned to in the middle of the valley.”
Also in his Diário XII from this viewpoint he wrote on April 8, 1977: ‘The Douro sublimated. The prodigy of a landscape that ceases to be so by dint of being disproportionate.
It is not a panorama that the eyes contemplate: it is an excess of nature. Terraces that are passed down from titanic men climbing the slopes, volumes, colors and modulations that no sculptor painted or musician could translate, horizons expanded beyond the plausible thresholds of vision.
A virginal universe, as if it had just been born, and already eternal because of the harmony, the serenity, the silence that not even the river dares to break, now disappearing stealthily behind the hills, now stunned deep down to reflect the your own astonishment. A geological poem. Absolute beauty.'
In addition to the passages in his Diary, Miguel Torga also dedicated a poem to this parish.
If you are in the area of Peso da Régua and Pinhão, exit at Covelinhas. Afterwards, head to the top of São Leonardo. Those traveling from Vila Real should take national road 313 (Parque Industrial) and look for the words indicating Miradouro.
GPS coordinates: Latitude 41° 10 21.684 Longitude: 7° 40 19.887
If you visit the Miradouro de São Leonardo de Galafura, also go to Peso da Régua and enjoy everything this city has to offer.
This is the first demarcated wine producing region in the world, Régua worked as a commercial warehouse, from where the boats with port wine left and arrived.
The surrounding landscape, the Alto Douro wine region, is a World Heritage Site, classified by UNESCO. In addition to the views, here it is worth getting to know the manor houses, the large wine producing estates and the small palaces.
In cultural terms, the Douro Museum, the Solar do Vinho do Porto and the Casa do Douro are worth a visit.
Source: Ekonomista
Born in the Douro, namely in the village of Galafura where the most beautiful viewpoint in the Douro is located, Monte de São Leonardo de Galafura. I am lucky to have been born in one of the most beautiful regions in the world and I want to share the best of what comes from it. I want to make known to the world its landscape, its customs, the gastronomy and the fantastic wines that go from strength to strength in the mouths of the world.
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