Côa Valley Archaeological Park

The Côa Valley Archaeological Park protects a set of open-air engraved rocks along the Côa River in north-eastern Portugal, close to where it meets the Douro. According to the Fundação Côa Parque, it covers about 80 sites with more than 1,200 engraved rocks, spread over four municipalities: Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Pinhel and Mêda.

It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, and in 2010 the listing was extended to include Siega Verde in Spain, making it a transboundary site.

The art of the Côa

• The engravings are mostly Palaeolithic; Visit Portugal speaks of some 25,000 years of art, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the modern era, while the Foundation dates the oldest to around 30,000 years ago.
• The sites open to the public are Canada do Inferno, Ribeira de Piscos (Muxagata) and Penascosa (near Castelo Melhor).

Visiting

The starting point is the Museu do Côa in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, which introduces Côa rock art and organises guided visits to the three sites. The Foundation strongly recommends booking ahead, as there are daily visitor limits per site; bookings are made by phone on (+351) 279 768 260, by email or through the form on the official website. Say which date, which site and how many people.

Besides the museum and site visits, the Foundation also lists kayak trips, a solar-electric boat tour to the Fariseu rock-art nucleus and a night visit to Penascosa. Please confirm times and prices with Côa Parque.

The park lies in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the far north-east of the Douro region.