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VISEU |
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From its high plateau, VISEU surveys the country around with the air
of a feudal overlord, and indeed, this dignified little city is capital
of all it can see. Its medieval heart has changed little, though the
approach to it is now through the broad avenues of a prosperous
provincial centre: parts of the walls survive and it's within their
circuit, breached by two doughty gateways, that almost everything of
interest lies. Surrounded by vineyards, orchards and pine-forests Viseu
has been a northern crossroads since the time of the Romans, who chose
its site for a military camp, the largest yet to be discovered in
Portugal. Today, its main importance is as the centre of the Dão wine-growing
region, where crispy white wines and some of Portugal's most popular
full-bodied reds are produced.
At the city's highest point is the huge Praça da Sé , the paved square
in front of the cathedral, best approached from the central Rossío
through the Porta do Soar. Here, amid a line of granite buildings, stand
the white Baroque facade of the Igreja da Misericórdia and the Cathedral
, a weighty twin-towered Romanesque base on which a succession of
generations have made their mark. Behind its twin-towered façade lies an
elegantly simple Gothic interior featuring a two-storey cloister and
fine azulejo glazed tiles in the north chapel. The sacristy boasts one
of the finest ceilings in Portugal. Its Renaissance cloister is one of
the most graceful in the country, while the rooms of its upper level,
looking out over the tangled roofs of the oldest part of the town, house
the cathedral's treasures, which include a twelfth-century Bible. The
greatest treasure of Viseu, though, is the adjacent Museu Grão Vasco (Tues-Sun
9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm; ¬1.25). Vasco Fernandes - known always as
Grão Vasco , the Great Vasco - was the key figure in a school of Flemish-influenced
painters which flourished here in the first half of the sixteenth
century. The centrepiece of the collection is his masterly St Peter on
his Throne .
The tourist office up from the Rossío, just off Avda. 25 de Abril
(Mon-Fri 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm, Sat & Sun 10am-noon & 3-5.30pm; tel 232
420 950), is a good source of information for the region as a whole.
Accommodation in Viseu is limited, but there are three decent places
right in the centre: Pensão Bela Vista , Rua Alexandre Herculano 510,
near the Turismo (tel 232 422 026; £20-25/$32-40/¬36-45); Pensão Rossío
Parque, Praça da República 55 (tel 232 42 20 85; £20-25/$32-40/¬36-45);
and Residential Duque de Viseu , Rua das Ameias 22, by the cathedral
(tel 232 421 286; £15-20/$24-32/¬27-36). If you fancy a bit of luxury,
try the Quinta de São Caetano (tel 232 423 984; £30-35/$48-56/¬54-63) on
Rua Julio de Sousa Vieira de Matos, a romantic old manor house. There's
a campsite (tel 232 426 146) in the Parque do Fontelo, about ten
minutes' walk east of the centre. Some of the best food in the province
is to be had at O Cortiço , 45 Rua Augosto Hilário, where prices aren't
too high but tables can be hard to get. Moving on from Viseu, which is a
major stopover for routes north, there are regular buses to Lamego via
Castro Daire, Guarda, Coimbra, Lisbon and Faro.
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