Vila Real

Located on a plateau about 450 metres above sea level, on the promontory formed by the confluence of the rivers Corgo and Cabril, where its oldest part (Vila Velha) is situated, the city is set in a beautiful natural landscape (Escarpas do Corgo), with the mountains of the Alvão and, more distant, of the Marão as a backdrop. With more than seven hundred years of existence, Vila Real was once known as the "Court of Trás-os-Montes", due to the large number of emblazoned houses that it then had, due to the presence of noblemen who settled here under the influence of the House of the Marquises of Vila Real, a presence still visible today in the countless armorial stones that attest to the noble titles of its historic owners. The region of Vila Real has signs of having been inhabited since the Palaeolithic.