Paço de Sousa

Some 10km/6mi southwest of Penafiel is the important Romanesque monastic church of Paço de Sousa (12th C.). Comprehensively restored after a fire in 1927, the church belonged at one time to a Benedictine monastery, and a part of its cloister has been retained.

The church has also maintained its Romanesque strength in the interior; the column bases are hewn from millstones. At the far end of the church is the sarcophagus (12th C.) of Egaz Moniz (1050-1140), tutor and confidant of Afonso Henriques, who played a major part in the history of his time. He is particularly remembered for an occasion in 1130 when, after Afonso Henriques I had broken his word to Afonso VII of León, he made his way to the Spanish king's court with a rope