This trail connects the towns of Refojos and Monte Córdova and offers a chance to explore much of the natural and archaeological heritage of the Leça River.Hikers follow a beautiful stretch of the river and its banks, passing by the Fervença Waterfalls and the Valinhas Oak Grove, a recreational and sacred area nestled among centuries-old oak trees.You’ll also have the opportunity to admire the Valinhas mills, the Pereiras Waterwheel System, and the Monte Padrão Fort, a national monument of great archaeological importance in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. At this point, you can also visit the Monte Padrão Interpretive Center.

General Description

A circular route starting and ending at one of the following points: Valinhas Oak Grove; Pereiras; Monte Padrão Chapel. This trail connects with the “PR 2 ST – Padrão” near Quinta de Linhares.

Monte Padrão

Monte Padrão is located on the left bank of the Ave River, in the parish of Monte Córdova, a few kilometers southeast of the city of Santo Tirso. Designated a National Monument since 1922, the Monte Padrão hillfort was first excavated in the 1950s and has since taken on extraordinary scientific importance for the study of the region’s distant past. In 1986, the Santo Tirso City Council and the National Archaeology Service of the Northern Region launched a series of initiatives aimed at protecting, studying, and promoting this archaeological site. The oldest recorded occupation at Monte Padrão dates back to the Late Bronze Age, a chronological period that generally corresponds to the formation of the “Castreja Culture.”

Pereiras

The Pereiras Water-Powered Sawmill is a remarkable example of pre-industrial architecture. Used for sawing wood for industrial and domestic purposes, it relied on water power to drive the sawing machinery. Classified as a Property of Public Interest, it will be restored and transformed into a museum complex dedicated to the pre-industrial activities of the Municipality of Santo Tirso.

Senhor do Padrão

A small 18th-century chapel located on Monte Padrão, which houses a polychrome granite statue of Christ Crucified. Legend has it that this chapel marks the site where the old church and Benedictine monastery of Monte Padrão once stood.

Azenhas de Valinhas

In order to harness the energy of the water for grinding grain, sawing timber, and fulling cloth, mills and waterwheels were gradually established along the various tributaries of the Leça River. The water mills of Valinhas are of great value for understanding small-scale local subsistence economic activities.

Fervença Waterfalls

A picturesque spot located near the Valinhas Oak Grove, where the waterfalls offer a magnificent natural spectacle as the Leça River flows swiftly toward them.

Leça River

A river that originates in the municipality of Santo Tirso, winding through the parishes in the southern part of the municipality, and flowing toward the Atlantic, where it empties into the sea near the city of Matosinhos.
Along this river with its clear waters, in its mountainous course, we can observe a wide variety of flora and fauna that coexist on its banks. Humans have used the river since ancient times, and several mills and waterwheels can be found along its course, scattered throughout the lands it flows through.