Marco de Canaveses in 3D

Marco de Canaveses is a municipality in Porto District, in the Tâmega e Sousa sub-region, covering 201.89 km² with 49,546 inhabitants according to the 2021 census. It became a city in 1993, has the Douro on its southern edge and the Tâmega along much of its western side, and borders Amarante, Baião, Cinfães, Castelo de Paiva and Penafiel.

It lies within the Vinho Verde demarcated region and brings together contemporary architecture by a renowned author, an excavated Roman city and a cuisine of its own, with roast lamb with oven-baked rice as its signature dish. It is a quiet base for exploring the Douro and the Tâmega without staying in central Porto.

What to see and do

• Igreja de Santa Maria: designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira with Rolando Torgo, built between 1994 and 1997 and inaugurated in 1996, on Avenida Gago Coutinho. Official sources describe sober lines without decoration, on a steeply sloping site. Group visits require advance booking.
• Tongóbriga (Freixo Archaeological Area): in the parish of Marco, a Roman city built on a pre-Roman fortified settlement (castro). Visible structures include the forum, the baths, domestic architecture and a necropolis. It has been a National Monument since 1986 and has an interpretive centre.
• Mosteiro de Alpendurada: a Benedictine monastery founded in the 11th century, completely rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries and classified as a Monument of Public Interest in 2013.
• Other heritage: Wikipedia also mentions the Igreja de São Martinho de Soalhães, the Ponte do Arco, the Mosteiro de Vila Boa do Bispo and the Casa dos Arcos, a 17th-century noble house.

Opening times change; please check with each site before you go.

Wine and food

The municipality belongs to the Vinho Verde region. The Enoturismo.pt portal mentions grape varieties such as Azal, Arinto, Loureiro and Alvarinho (white) and Vinhão, Espadeiro, Amaral, Borraçal and Padeiro (red), as well as quintas offering visits, the Museu do Vinho e do Linho in Maureles and a Rota dos Vinhos do Marco de Canaveses. At the table, the dish most associated with the municipality is roast lamb with oven-baked rice (anho assado com arroz de forno), cooked in clay; the municipal tourism portal presents it together with vinho verde.

Getting there and when to go

According to English-language Wikipedia, the municipality is about 56 km from Porto. It has three stations on the Linha do Douro, with electrification between Caíde and Marco de Canaveses completed in 2019 and a suburban service to Porto. Neighbouring municipalities with their own page on this portal include Penafiel, Baião and Cinfães. As for climate, the same source describes cold, foggy winters and summers that can exceed 30 °C.

Where to stay

Our catalogue has 17 lodgings in Marco de Canaveses and its surroundings, 15 of them in the town of Marco de Canaveses itself. You can browse the list of lodgings on this page; the ratings shown come from Booking.com guests.