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Price Range: E798 to E798 (EUR)

The property
This country house in traditional style is located 1.5 km from Ponte de Lima. In a radius of 100 m you find a mini market, café, restaurant and a fluvial beach. This is an ideal basis to discover the green Minho, as well as the Peneda_Gerês National Park. Golfclub Ponte de Lima is only 3 km, and ocean beaches are 29 km distant and reachable over th highway A27. Within a rustical but comfortable decoration, house consists of 1 double room with direct access to the porch, a living/dining room with TV (Portuguese channels only), a sofa bed and an equipped kitchenette, a bathroom, a porch with furniture, surrounding garden and private parking. Baby cot available, free of charge. Sleeps 4 persons, self catering.

Ponte de Lima
The River Lima is crossed at this point by a Roman bridge that gave its name to this very ancient and very beautiful town, which received its first charter in 1125 from D. Teresa, the mother of the first king of Portugal (a number of years before the foundation of the kingdom). Ponte de Lima is at the centre of a rich farming region, where the famous vinho verde is produced. This is the area of the country where the greatest number of manor houses and palaces are to be found, many of them offering accommodation to tourists under the system of Turismo de Habitação. Every fortnight, this traditional town is brought to life when a huge and lively fair that dates back to the Middle Ages is held on the banks of the river. This same stretch of sand is also the site for another traditional event held in June, known as the "Vaca das Cordas" (when ropes are tied around the horns of a bull, which is then led onto the sand to "fight" with the local population). In September, the town once again bursts into life with the jolly event known as the Feiras Novas (New Fairs). This is the town festival, which includes a huge market, fireworks, a funfair, carnival costumes and a brass band competition.

The Minho Region
Minho is situated in the north-west corner of Portugal next to the frontier with the Galician province of Spain. It is often called 'Green Minho' because of its green forests and cultivated valleys. Small houses are dotted around the lush landscape, surrounded by fields too small for a tractor to work them. Connecting these fields are granite set tracks which often have grape vines growing overhead. Liberally scattered around are the great houses of the past, of which nearly all have been beautifully restored. Beautiful rivers come into this region from Spain. The river Lima has the towns of Ponte de Barca, Ponte de Lima and Viana do Castelo on its banks. Another river is the Minho river which forms the northern border with Spain. Again there are interesting old towers along its banks including the fortified border town of Valenca do Minho. The fort which encloses the town was built to keep out the Spanish but nowadays their trade is welcome. Near here, at Ponte de Mouro, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster met with King Joao to ratify the Treaty of Windsor and arrange for the wedding of his daughter, Phillipa. The southern border of the region is another beautiful river the Douro. Again the riverbanks are terraced vineyards leading down to the water. The wine from the 'quintas' on the upper reaches of this river is used to make the famous Port Wine. The river valleys of this area of Portugal used to be the favourite place for the wealthy to build their manor houses. Today Princes, Prime Ministers and many others come to enjoy the Portuguese hospitality in these houses. Very affordable prices also allow others to also enjoy the area and lifestyle. Nowadays many Minhotos from Portugal and the Galegos in Spain would like the regions of Galicia and Minho to split from their respective countries and form a separate Celtic state joined by their culture and language. Minho also boasts the only National Park in Portugal with international status. Here there are the traditional hill farms and way of life. The cattle live under the houses and those which do go out grazing have to be indoors each night because of the Iberian wolf. Often the work of the village operates on a communal basis and money is not a necessity (although all nowadays have a bank account to collect the euros from the EU agricultural subsidy). Access to modern society, thanks to EU projects of roads and electricity, means that the old way of life of these villages will be over forever in a few years time and it is recommended that all those interested should not delay their visit. Already it is becoming hard to find a water mill still working or a house without a chimney so that the hams could smoke in the kitchen.

Viana do Castelo distance 29 km

Peneda Geres National Park distance 50 km

Braga distance 45 km

Golf Ponte de Lima distance 3 km

Property Features
Sleeps 4
Doublebeds 1
Cots 1
Bathrooms 1
Tv
Cooker
Microwave
Fridge
Freezer
Linenprovided
Traffic Medium
Sightseeing 1
Relaxing
Patio
Parking
Airport Porto
Airportdistance 80 km
Beach 15 Minutes Away
Walking On site
Cycling On site
Golf 15 Minutes away
Garden