Chapel and viewpoint of São Domingos

The São Domingos Miradouro is one of the most spectacular vantage points in the Douro landscape, if not the most extraordinary. From here you can see lands in the districts of Viseu, Vila Real and Porto. Right in front of our eyes rises the imposing Serra do Marão and at our feet the Douro meets the city of Peso da Régua and heads towards Porto. To the west you can see the staircase and sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Lamego. The Ermida de São Domingos was built here almost a thousand years ago. A typical example of medieval pilgrimage chapels, the oldest reference to São Domingos dates back to 1163. King Afonso V is said to have visited the hermitage in the company of Queen Isabel in 1454. His son João II and his wife Leonor also did the same, years later asking for divine intervention to grant him a successor. They returned to São Domingos a second time at the end of 1483, with their son, Prince Afonso. In fact, couples who were trying to have children and found it difficult to do so slept outside on the "propitiatory stone", or "fertility rock", which can still be seen today near the door of the chapel's sacristy. It was a place of pilgrimage and ancient royal pilgrimages, which people continued during and after the Middle Ages. The pilgrimage was so important that it had to be attended by the Lamego City Council, which carried the royal flag at its head, followed by the vicars of the cathedral, clerics, benefices, choreographer priests, the Franciscans from the convent of São Francisco and many people from the city and the surrounding area.