adminThere are 17 World Heritage Sites in Portugal, a list of must-see places of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage, designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites in Portugal include architectural works, such as religious buildings (monasteries, convents), secular buildings (palaces, universities) and historic city centres, but also archaeological sites and cultural and natural landscapes, distributed throughout continental Portugal as well as the islands, Madeira and Azores. World Heritage Sites in Portugal are testimonies of the cultural and natural heritage of the oldest nation-state in Europe and a list of must-see places in a trip around Portugal.
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Portugal ratified the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972, on 30 September, 1980. The first four World Heritage Sites in Portugal designated by UNESCO were the Monastery of the Hieronymites (Jerónimos) and Tower of Belém in Lisbon, the Monastery of Batalha, the Convent of Christ in Tomar, and the town of Angra do Heroísmo, in Azores. The most recent additions to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal were the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte (Good Jesus of the Hill) in Braga and the Palace of Mafra with its hunting park, and an addition to the (already designated) historic city centre of Guimarães. In this post we will show you the best of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal that you really shouldn’t miss.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGES SITES IN PORTUGAL
Here is the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal, divided into themes and ordered according to the date of designation by UNESCO.
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1. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Historic centres
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include historic city centres such as the Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores (1983), the Historic Centre of Évora (1986), the Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar (1996), and the Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zone (2001, 2023).
1.1. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo
Historically, the settlement of Terceira Island began around 1460, having been for a long time the administrative center of the “Terceiras” (Third) Islands, as the Azores archipelago was known (as it was the third archipelago to be discovered in the Atlantic, after the Canaries and Madeira). Terceira island’s central location in the archipelago and in the Atlantic played a strong role in its political importance. Angra do Heroísmo was officially raised to the status of city on 21 August 1534; during the same year, it became the seat of the Archbishop of the Azores.
The location chosen by the first settlers was a ridge of hills, which opened, in an amphitheater, over two bays, separated by the extinct volcano of Monte Brasil. One of them, the so-called “angra”, was deep enough to anchor larger tonnage vessels, the “naus”. An extensive defensive system was installed following the town’s foundation. The 400-year-old São Sebastião (Saint Sebastian) and São João Baptista (Saint John Baptist) fortifications are notable examples of this military architecture. Angra do Heroísmo became an obligatory port of call for the fleets of equatorial Africa and of the East and West Indies routes during their voyages to and from Europe from the 15th century until the advent of steamships in the 19th century.
The monumental character of the city’s historic centre is dominated however by religious buildings, where the cathedral of Santíssimo Salvador da Sé, the churches of the Misericórdia and Espírito Santo, and the convents of the Franciscans and the Jesuits, all constructed in the Baroque style, stand out. Despite a devastating earthquake on 1 January 1980, the central zone of the town of Angra do Heroísmo has preserved the better part of its monumental heritage and its original architecture.
Book your Angra do Heroísmo Walking Tour.
1.2. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Historic Centre of Évora
Évora is known as a “Museum City”, with origins going as far back as Celtic times, as it maintains a historical, architectural and cultural heritage shaped by different civilizations for more than twenty centuries of history. The city walls of Évora, dating back to the romans but reworked under Visigoth and Moorish occupation, surround the historic urban core, with its medieval streets, traditional housing, and the Évora Cathedral, the biggest medieval cathedral in Portugal.
But it was in the 15th century, when the Portuguese kings began living in Évora on an regular basis that Évora’s golden age began, giving rise to the grand architecture of the Curch and Convent of São Francisco (St. Francis) and the Convent of Lóios. The enigmatic presence of the Roman temple of Évora (the so called Temple of Diana), the amazing Capela dos Ossos (Bone Chapel) and the history and tradition of the University of Évora and the Colégio do Espírito Santo (Holy Spirit College), where the Jesuits taught from 1553 until the expulsion of the Company of Jesus by Marquis of Pombal in 1759, complete a memorable heritage site. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed.
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1.3. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar
Although Porto’s history goes back to pre-roman times, when Cale was a Celtic settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, it was when the romans invaded that they founded the city of Portus Cale (around 136 BC), the former name of current-day Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia (on the other side of the river). This name would be used to name the whole region and, later, the country of Portugal. In 868, Vímara Peres, a Christian warlord from Gallaecia and a vassal of the King of Asturias, was sent to reconquer from the Moors the area from the Minho River to the Douro River, including the city of Portus Cale, and founded Portucale’s Earldom, the seed from which Portugal would grow. During the Roman occupation, the city developed as an important commercial port, primarily in the trade between Olisipo (the modern Lisbon) and Bracara Augusta (the modern Braga). UNESCO World Heritage Site in Portugal
Porto became a symbol of the north of Portugal’s culture and people, due to its long and rich history of defiance, with key moments in the city’s support for King Dom João I’s accession to the throne (in the crisis of 1383-1385) and in his maritime expansion project (which began with the capture of Ceuta in 1415), the siege of the city for more than a year during the Liberal Wars (1832-1834), that earned it the epithet of “Invicta (Unbeaten) City”, and the republican revolt of January 31, 1891, a precursor to the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910.
The Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar, is an outstanding urban landscape that serves as a testimony to its 2,000-year history. Its continuous growth linked to the sea can be seen in its many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir and the typically Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara, to its outstanding public buildings, including the São João theatre (1796-1798; 1911-1918) and the former prison “Cadeia da Relação” (1765-1796). Among the important later structures are Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) (1842-1910), Luiz I Bridge (1881-1886) and São Bento railway station (1900-1916).
Book your Porto Walking Tour, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal.
1.4. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zone
Guimarães is inextricably linked to D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, born and raised in Guimarães. However, the origins of Guimarães (including its name) date back to the 9th century, when the nobleman Vímara Peres was one of those responsible for the reconquest and repopulation of the region between Douro and Minho, as well as the conquest of the town of Portucale (Porto) in 868, having become the first count of Portucale. He founded Vimaranes (derived from his own name), which became capital of the Portucalense County, where he would die in 873, and established a county dynasty that would rule the region until 1071.
Mumadona Dias was countess of the Portucalense County, ruling in the mid-10th century, and it was she who ordered the construction, on her property of Vimaranes, of a double monastery (for religious men and women), and, for its defense, a castle on the hill a short distance away. In this way, Guimarães as we know it today was born. Its historic centre, including its extra muros and proto-industrial area known as the Couros Zone, is an extremely well-preserved and authentic example of the evolution of a medieval settlement into a modern town, with a rich building typology, based in particular in a type of construction in the Middle Ages featuring a ground floor in granite with a half-timbered structure above.
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The Church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira (Our Lady of the Olive Tree) dominates Largo da Oliveira (Olve Tree Square) and is the first Gothic monument erected in Minho, under the auspices of king Dom João I, to commemorate the victory in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385) against Castile. Its origins date back to the monastery dedicated to the Savior of the World, the Virgin of Santa Maria and the Holy Apostles, founded by Countess Mumadona Dias, around 950. The current building is the result of several renovations, highlighting architectural elements from different eras, in particular the bell tower, with Manueline characteristics.
Book your Braga and Guimarães Full Day Tour with Lunch from Porto.
2. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Religious buildings
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include religious buildings such as the Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (1983), the Convent of Christ in Tomar (1983), the Monastery of Batalha (1983), the Monastery of Alcobaça (1989), and the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga (2019).
2.1. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon
Created by the royal dynasty of Avis at its height, the complex of Belém, comprising the Monastery of Jerónimos and the Tower of Belém, is located on the shore of the Tagus River at the entrance to the port of Lisbon. It is one of the most representative examples of Portugal’s cultural apogee during the Age of Discoveries, and constitutes on the whole perhaps the most impressive World Heritage Site in Portugal.
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It was to the Order of Saint Jerome that King D. Manuel I of Portugal offered the famous Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém, better known as Monastery of Jerónimos (Hieronymites or Jeronomites), devotedly dedicated to Our Lady. The monks’ duties were, among others, to pray for the king’s soul and provide spiritual assistance to sailors and navigators who left Restelo beach to discover new worlds. For four centuries this religious community lived there, vacating the place in 1834, year of the dissolution of monasteries and extinction of religious orders in Portugal, and when Jerónimos Monastery became part of the State’s assets. The monastery still preserves most of its magnificent structures, including its 16th-century cloister, the friars’ former refectory, and the library.
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Not far from the monastery, on the banks of the Tagus River, Francisco de Arruda constructed the famous Tower of Belém around 1514, also known as the Tower of St Vincent, patron of the city of Lisbon, which commemorated the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India (1498) and also served to defend the port of Lisbon. The Tower of Belém has preserved its original layout, despite the large changes in the surrounding area caused by landfills and by the silting of the river Tagus, and is considered, with its highly ornate exterior, one of the most beautiful Portuguese architectural works. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed.
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2.2. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Convent of Christ in Tomar
The Convent of Christ in Tomar is stunning, dominating the entire Tomar region from the top of a hill, and surrounded by the walls of the Castle of Tomar. It belonged to the Order of the Templars, founded in 1160 by Gualdim Pais, grand master of the Knights Templar and it became the home of the Order of Christ in Portugal in 1356. Originally designed as a monument symbolizing the christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the Convent of Christ came to symbolize just the opposite during the Manueline period, that is, the opening up of Portugal to other civilizations.
Built over the span of five centuries, the Convent of Christ is a testimony to an architecture combining Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque elements. But the Manueline influence was, as at Belem in Lisbon, decisive and it was under King Manuel that the combining Gothic and Moorish influences gave rise to the most accomplished expression of Manueline decorative style, such as in the famous “Manueline window”. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed.
2.3. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Monastery of Batalha
Constructed in fulfilment of a vow by King João I to commemorate the victory over the Castilians at Aljubarrota (15 August 1385), the Dominican Monastery of Batalha is one of the absolute masterpieces of Gothic art, and one of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed. It is one of the most beautiful monasteries and architectural examples in Portugal and a place where it is possible to discover the History of Portugal live and in color.
The greater part of the monumental complex dates from the reign of king Dom João I (1385-1433), the church (finished in 1416), the royal cloister, the chapter-house, and the chapel, where you can find the enormous medieval tomb of João I and his wife, Queen Philippa of Lancaster. But the Monastery of Batalha was also, for more than two centuries, the great workshop of the Portuguese monarchy, and it is possible to find here the most characteristic features of both the Gothic and the Renaissance periods of Portuguese art.
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2.4. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Monastery of Alcobaça
The Monastery of Alcobaça, located in central Portugal, is a beautiful monastery and one of the must-visit World Heritage sites in Portugal. The founding of the Monastery of Alcobaça is closely associated with the beginning of the Portuguese monarchy as Alcobaça was given by King Dom Afonso I to the Cistercians in recognition of their support to the conquest of Santarem (1152). with the understanding that they would colonise and work the surrounding lands.
Laid out similarly to Pontigny Abbey in Burgundy (France), besides its artistic value, the monastery was the kingdom’s most important monastic school and a center of political influence. Inside, you can also find the famous tombs of Inês de Castro and Dom Pedro (Peter I), commissioned by the king himself, after one of the most romanticized episodes of Portugueses history, when Inês de Castro (a Galician noblewoman, lover and later wife of Peter, posthumous queen of Portugal) was assassinated in Coimbra on the orders of King Dom Afonso IV, and Peter carried out a terrible revenge on the murderers, a story truly worthy of a Hollywood screenplay.
Book your Fátima, Batalha, Alcobaça, Nazaré and Óbidos Private Day Tour from Lisbon.
3. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Cultural landscapes
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include cultural landscapes such as the Cultural Landscape of Sintra (1995), Alto Douro Wine Region (2001), and the Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture (2004).
3.1. Cultural Landscape of Sintra
Sintra has long been an attraction for those living in and around Lisbon. In particular, Portuguese elites and the ruling class fled the heat of Lisbon and took refuge in the shadows and vegetation of Sintra. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the romantic spirit of famous foreign visitors (such as Byron and Sir Francis Cook) and the Portuguese aristocracy discovered the exoticism and mysticism of Sintra’s landscape.
Some of Sintra’s most emblematic buildings date back to this time, such as the famous Palácio da Pena, the Palácio de Monserrate, built in 1858 by order of Sir Francis Cook, and the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, the oldest Portuguese Royal Palace in history that has reached our days. Today, the cultural landscape of Sintra is a mix of fairytale palaces, extravagant villas, a mountain range of lush vegetation and an enigmatic castle that dominates the horizon, the Castelo dos Mouros, one of the best examples of military architecture in Portugal, conquered to the Moors by D. Afonso Henriques in 1147, and located at one of the highest points of the Sintra mountain range.
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The Pena Palace, the pinnacle of Romanticism in Portugal, was the first romantic palace in Europe, built around 30 years before the emblematic Schloss Neuschwanstein, in Bavaria, after the purchase by King Dom Fernando II, a lover of Arts and Nature, of the Monastery of Nossa Senhora da Pena, of the Order of S. Gerónimo. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed. The Pena Palace is surrounded by the Pena Park, with an extensive forest area that occupies around 85 hectares, constituting a natural environment of rare beauty. Its diverse and luxuriant vegetation has made it a unique case of bio-conservation in Europe.
3.2. Alto Douro Wine Region
The cultural landscape of the Alto Douro Wine Region is an outstanding example of humankind’s unique relationship with the natural environment. Determined by the natural course of the river and the superhuman effort of past generations, the beauty of the Alto Douro Wine Region is the fruit in equal parts of divine generosity and human sweat. The slopes that flank the river in the Alto Douro Wine Region were worked over centuries, breaking up the schist, building terraces and walls, and cultivating vineyards on terraces. The result is astonishing, a unique landscape in the world. In the words of poet Miguel Torga: “it is an excess of nature. […] A geological poem. Absolute beauty.”
In a harsh land that is difficult to cross, the Douro River has always been a means of communication for people and cultures, despite navigation difficulties. It was the Romans who introduced vineyard planting and wine production techniques in the Alto Douro Wine Region, but it was mainly from the 17th century onwards that wine production truly began to grow, with the ultimate aim of export. The Treaty of Methuen (1703) opened the doors to exports to England, and led to an unbridled rush to new plantations in the Alto Douro Wine Region. Marquis of Pombal established the General Company of Agriculture of Alto Douro in 1756, and the Douro Region became the first wine region, worldwide, to be demarcated and regulated.
Book your Douro valley tour from Porto, with river boat cruise, wine tasting and lunch.
Currently, the Douro Demarcated Region is divided into three distinct zones, to the west, Baixo Corgo (up to Régua), in the center, Cima Corgo (up to Cachão da Valeira) and to the east, Douro Superior (up to the Spanish border), all three sharing the area classified as UNESCO World Heritage. In this region, not only the famous Port Wine is produced, but also table wines called “Douro”. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed.
3.3. Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture
The island of Pico is the second largest in the Azores (only behind the island of São Miguel), but has fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, a substantially smaller population than the island of Terceira and slightly smaller than the (much smaller) island of Faial . The island of Pico is one of the vertices of the “triangle” of the central group (along with São Jorge and Faial), separated from São Jorge by a 15 km strait, and from Faial by only 8 km. The natural landscape of the Azorean islands is made up of volcanic soils and, in the case of Pico island, the most recent in geological terms, often sterile land, without water, and even fields of solidified lava, results of historical eruptions (i.e. , occurring since the 16th century), known by the population as “mysteries”. But man’s struggle for survival in such harsh lands and climates often takes the most unexpected forms.
There, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, hard work transformed the lava fields of Pico island into vineyards, with vines growing close to the ground, surrounded by black walls (called “corrals”), whose volcanic stone absorbs the heat and protects from wind and salty sea air. The quality of the indigenous grape varieties from the island of Pico, Arinto, Terrantês and Verdelho was recognized, nationally and internationally (it is said that the tsars of Russia had wine from the Azores in their cellars), mainly the white liqueur wine from Pico, leading to the creation of the Demarcated Region of the Azores. Today, vineyards and wine are part of the cultural identity of the island of Pico and are yet another facet that visitors can and should explore on Pico Island. One of the World Heritage Sites in Portugal absolutely not to be missed.
Book your Pico Guided Day Tour.
Book your accommodation in Pico island, Azores.
4. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Secular buildings
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include secular buildings such as the University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia (2013), the Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications (2012), and the Royal Building of Mafra – Palace, Basilica, Convent, Cerco Garden and Hunting Park (Tapada) (2019).
4.1. University of Coimbra
The first Portuguese university, and one of the oldest in the world, was founded in 1290 by King Dom Dinis, and the first facilities were in the city of Lisbon, but in the following years it was successively transferred between Lisbon and Coimbra. Permanently transferred to Coimbra in 1537 by order of King Dom João III, all of its faculties were installed a few years later in the later designated Paço das Escolas, the square around which the oldest original buildings of the University of Coimbra were organized.
The Joanina Library, the crown jewel of the University of Coimbra, built by order of D. João V and with the largest collection of ancient books in Portugal, is considered one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. The chapel of São Miguel, full of hand-painted tiles and a gigantic organ, is one of the few royal chapels in Portugal, dedicated to the archangel São Miguel (Saint Michael), and it was there that the kings of Portugal attended mass.
Book your University of Coimbra Walking Tour, one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal.
The Royal Palace of Dom Afonso is the place where the University of Coimbra began. It was in this building that studies of theology, medicine and law at the University of Coimbra began. Today the palace houses the Faculty of Law but the most imposing part of the palace, including the royal apartments, have been converted into a museum. Highlights include the Sala dos Capelos, decorated with paintings of all the Kings of Portugal (with the exception of the Philippine Dynasty) and still used today for doctoral exams at the University of Coimbra, and the Private Examination Room, decorated with portraits of deans of the University of Coimbra and originally the place where the academic doctoral exams were carried out.
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5. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Archaeological sites
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include only one archaelogical site, the Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde (1998, 2010), shared with Spain.
5.1. Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley
The Côa Valley Archaeological Park is a unique and mandatory visit in Portugal. For everyone, young and old, very or little educated, with or without artistic sensitivity, this World Heritage Site in Portugal should be a place to visit, as the engravings of Foz Côa are one of the treasures of Humanity, constituting a true museum to the open air of Paleolithic art, that is, of our ancestors who lived there more than 20,000 years ago. With the discovery of the Foz Côa engravings, the idea of Paleolithic engravings locked in caves was put aside, and the reality of rediscovering the artistic and creative capacity of our ancestors, and their unequivocal desire to show this art to others.
Long known to local people, mainly shepherds and millers, the engravings of Foz Côa came into the media spotlight in 1994, when they were officially discovered due to the construction of a dam at the mouth of the Côa river. After a long political process and varied scientific studies, the dam works would be suspended, the Côa Valley Archaeological Park would be created, and the engravings would be classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2010, the Côa Museum was opened and the Côa Park Foundation was created, which began to manage and care for this heritage.
Book your accommodation in Vila Nova de Foz Coa.
6. World Heritage Sites in Portugal – Natural landscapes
World Heritage Sites in Portugal include only one natural landscape, the Laurisilva Forest of Madeira (1999).
6.1. Laurisilva of Madeira
The Laurisilva of Madeira is an outstanding relict of a previously widespread laurel forest type, which covered much of Southern Europe 15-40 million years ago, but that is now confined to the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. These forests display a wealth of biological diversity, with dozens of plant and animal endemic species, and play a predominant role in maintaining the hydrological balance on the Island of Madeira.
The settlers of Madeira constructed water channels, known as levadas, in order to transport water from the northern part of the island, where rainfall is greater, to the southern part, providing drinking water and irrigation supplies (as well as “fuel” to hydropower stations). Today, many of these levadas, which take advantage of contour lines and allow access to the forest on relatively flat paths, have been transformed into walking trails and are signposted, turning Madeira island into a world class trekking destination.
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