Description of the attraction
Viseu is a beautiful old town in the northern part of Portugal. The old part of the city is a center that has changed little since the Middle Ages. Viseu is the only one of the largest cities in Europe to have no train stations. The city is also famous for its excellent red wines.
Among the historical monuments of the city, it is worth seeing the Cavaleiros Gate, which just leads to the historical center of the city. The Cavaleiros Gate is part of the defensive walls that surrounded the city and defended against the Castilian armies that attacked Viseu more than once. There were seven gates in total. To date, only the Cavaleiros granite gate and the Soar gate have survived.
The construction of fortifications along with the Cavaleiros Gate was begun during the reign of King Joan I (1385-1433), but the construction was completed only in 1472, when the country was already ruled by King Afonso V. In the middle of the 19th century, in 1844, the city council of the city Viseu decided to dismantle all the old gates in order to give the city a modern look, leaving only the two aforementioned gates.
Outside the ancient city gates, there is a niche dedicated to St. John the Baptist, because through this entrance on the day of St. John the Baptist (June 24), the so-called "Cavalcadas de Vildemoynshos" goes to the chapel of S. João da Carreira - a group of riders who are dressed in white tunics, and in their hands they hold green rods and wreaths of red carnations. On the wall, next to the gate, there is a stone image of Noss Senor da Graça from the late 16th century.
Since 1915, the Cavaleiros Gate has been included in the List of Monuments of National Importance in Portugal.
