Visit: Heritage | Nature

The Arruda dos Vinhos municipality consists of four parishes – Arruda dos Vinhos, Arranhó, Cardosas and St. James of the Old. The first archaeological remains and toponymic references of human occupation in Arruda territory date back to the Neolithic period.

But in the year 1172 when D. Afonso Henriques made till a grant document Arruda village to the Order of St. James, which allowed the large rural development of the region, to build a convent in the Vilar site, in order to accommodate the wives of the Knights, who were heading south during the Reconquest. Besides praying, the wives were engaged in agricultural promotion, especially the cultivation of the vine, which easily developed, due to the characteristics of the region.

The January 15, 1517, Dom Manuel attributed the Foral Arruda the village after their refuge in the Palace of the Village, at the outbreak of the plague, promising to rebuild the Church in gratitude to Our Lady of Salvation for their rescue. This restoration took place after the death of Don Manuel, between the years 1525 and 1531.

To celebrate this feat, Dom Manuel ordered the organization of festivities in the village in honor of Our Lady of Salvation, the 15th of August each year, which remained until the present day, being celebrated in a period of 6 to 8 August, attracting thousands of visitors.

During the Napoleonic wars, it was necessary the construction of a defensive line, thus in Arruda dos Vinhos municipality can find two strong, the Forte Blind and Fort Carvalha, integrated in the Torres Lines. Are still observable cloths of walls and trenches also been interest from several research under an intermunicipal project appreciation of the first waist fenders these lines.

Besides being an important county in wine production, it was also found traces of an ancient route of marketing related to this production products. The development and expansion of wine activities continue to be an important heritage of the Wine Arruda region, despite being one of the best areas of wine production in Portugal.

Thus, villages, couples and estates are in harmony with nature and the valleys of the region, where the fields are cultivated and worked to prepare the vines for autumn crops. For the celebration of this ritual and wisdom in November is held the Festival of the Vine and Wine, for both arrudenses and how visitors can celebrate the gift offered to the region Arruda dos Vinhos.