Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Only parts of the park are served by bus. For up-to-date schedules, check with
cost €1.20 and generally take an hour or less.
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Miranda do Douro
POP 7482 / ELEV 560M
A fortified frontier town hunkering on the precipice of the gorgeous Rio Douro canyon,
Miranda do Douro was long a bulwark of Portugal's 'wild east'. With its crumbling castle
still lending an air of medieval charm, modern-day Miranda has now taken on a decidedly
different role - receiving weekending Spanish tourists, as opposed to repelling Castilian
attacks.
The town's beautifully hulking, 16th- century church may seem all out of proportion to
the rest of the town, but it once served as cathedral for the entire region. Visitors shouldn't
miss Miranda's ethnographic museum, which sheds light on the region's border culture,
including ancient rites such as the 'stick dancing' of the
pauliteiros
.
Street signs around town are written in Mirandês, an ancient language that developed
during Miranda's long centuries of isolation from the rest of Portugal. Romance-language
buffs will enjoy names like 'Rue de la Santa Cruç', which read like a fantastical blend of
French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Largo do Menino Jesus da Cartolina, a roundabout perched at the edge of the river
gorge, roughly divides the old and new town. The
turismo
sits on the northern edge of the
roundabout. The bus station lies just downhill, on the road descending towards the bridge
to Spain.
Uphill (southwest) from the roundabout, past the old walls and castle ruins, are the old
town and what was once the citadel. The main axis is Rua da Alfândega (also called Rua
Mouzinho da Albuquerque), which runs into central Praça de Dom João III and, a little
further on, Largo da Sé and the cathedral.
The new town's commercial hub is Rua do Mercado, running northeast from the round-
about and parallel to the Rio Douro gorge.
History
