© Photography: Borealis on Trekking
In the heart of the Lima Valley, the unique and genuine beauty of the oldest town in Portugal hides deep roots and ancestral legends. It was Teresa, Countess of Portugal, who, in the distant date of March 4th of 1125, signed the town’s charter, calling it "Terra de Ponte” (Bridge Land). Years later, already in the fourteenth century, Pedro I, taking into account the strategic position of Ponte de Lima, ordered it to be walled, which resulted in a medieval walled burg with nine towers. Two of these are still standing and there are traces of several others and of the whole defensive structure built at the time. The access to the town is made through six doors.
The bridge, from which this noble town derives part of its name, has always been of major importance for the whole Alto Minho region, since it was the only safe passage across the River Lima throughout its whole length, until the late Middle Ages.
The town began to grow in the eighteenth century and as a consequence its walls began to be pulled down. Throughout the county of Ponte de Lima, opulent manorial houses were built by the nobility of the time. Over the years, Ponte de Lima has thus added to its natural beauty magnificent Gothic, Mannerist, Baroque, Neoclassical and nineteenth century façades, significantly increasing the historical, cultural and architectural value of this unique corner of Portugal.
