Penafiel can be explored from several cultural and historical perspectives: a guided tour traces a timeline, the Municipal Museum organizes its permanent exhibition by theme, and the gardens each have their own character. You can choose whether to focus on the city's history, the museum's themes, or views, location and remembrance.
The city's history on a tour and in the museum
Guided city tours offer the chance to discover Penafiel's history and cultural heritage, or to deepen your existing knowledge of them. A guided walking tour leads from the original town centre to the city of the 20th century and covers the period from the 16th to the 20th century. This timespan makes the tour a way to explore Penafiel through its historical development, rather than limiting your focus to a single era.
The Municipal Museum of Penafiel is located in the city's historic and commercial centre. Its permanent exhibition comprises five thematic rooms: Identity, Territory, Archaeology, Crafts, and Earth and Water. The exhibition thus offers a thematic structure alongside the tour's chronological scope. When choosing your cultural focus, you can therefore follow two different approaches: the city's history from the 16th to the 20th century, or the museum's five themes.
Gardens with their own character
Jardim do Sameiro is a natural viewpoint, established in the late 19th or early 20th century. Its panoramic view is considered one of Penafiel's most striking cityscapes. This garden brings together its date of origin and its role as a viewpoint, so you can take both its historical context and the panoramic view into account when making your choice. The garden was built during the period covered by the tour.
Jardim da Praça da República is located in the city centre and serves as a kind of viewpoint over the Rio Cavalum valley. At the same time, it lies hidden behind the imposing Palacete do Barão do Calvário, which houses the city library. The central location and the palacete are therefore important landmarks; the garden looks out over the Rio Cavalum valley.
Jardim do Calvário is also known as Jardim Egas Moniz and Jardim Público. Busts of Egas Moniz and António Nobre can be seen there. The garden also combines green space with an area for leisure and recreation. If you are interested in these named figures or in the garden's recreational character, it offers a different focus from the viewpoints at Sameiro and Praça da República.
Discover more destinations: Portela, Sebolido, Entre-os-Rios, Abragão, Oldrões, Figueira, Valpedre, Galegos.
For the main travel overview: Penafiel.
