The Beiras - Portugal - page 716

South of the cathedral beneath the Passeio dos Cônegos OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Curates
Walk, on part of the old wall) is Praça de Dom Duarte , named after the Portuguese monarch
born in Viseu. Several noble mansions adorn the square.
Southward is Casa de Dom Duarte OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Rua Dom Duarte; closed to public) ,
a house with a beautiful Manueline window and traditionally regarded as the king's birth-
place.
Rua Augusto Hilário runs southeast through the former judiaria (14th-to-16th-century
Jewish quarter). Rua Direita , Viseu's most appealing street and once the most direct route to
the hilltop, is a lively melee of shops, souvenir stands, restaurants and old town houses.

Around the Rossio
At the southern end of Praça da República is the late-18th-century Igreja dos Terceiros
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , all heavy, gilded baroque but for the luminous azulejos portray-
ing the life of St Francis.
Fine modern azulejos OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP at the northern end of the Rossio depict
scenes from regional life, and beyond these is the azulejo -adorned Museu Almeida Moreira
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ([e-mail]; Rua Soar de Cima;

NEIGHBOURHOOD

10am-noon & 2-5pm Tue-Sun)

, genteel home to the first director of the Museu Grão Vasco, with fine furnishings
and art.
From here the grandest route into the old town is through the Porta do Soar de Cima
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , a gate set into a section of Afonso V's town walls.

Parque do Fontelo
A haven of woodland and open space sprawls beyond the Portal do Fontelo. Here are the
16th-century Antigo Paço Episcopal (former Bishop's Palace), now home to the Dão Regional
Vintners' Commission (CVRD), together with once-lovely Renaissance gardens, a stadi-
um and a recreation complex.

PARK

Festivals & Events

Feira de São Mateus
( www.feirasaomateus.pt ) Viseu's biggest annual get-together is a jamboree of agriculture and
handicrafts from mid-August to mid-September, augmented by folk music, traditional
food, amusement-park rides and fireworks. This direct descendant of the town's old 'free

TOWN FESTIVAL