Historic Center of Arcos de Valdevez

It is the seat of the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez, with a total area of 447.60 km2, 20,718 inhabitants in 2021 and a population density of 46 inhabitants per km2, subdivided into 36 parishes. The municipality is bordered to the north by the municipality of Monção, to the northeast by Melgaço, to the east by the Spanish region of Galicia, to the south by Ponte da Barca, to the southwest and west by Ponte de Lima and to the west by Paredes de Coura. The so-called Tournament of Arcos de Valdevez, also known as the "Recontro de Valdevez", was an important and decisive episode in the History of Portugal linked to the early days of the nation, and was the precedent for the celebration of the Treaty of Zamora in 1143. In 1662, during the Restoration War, the town was burned down by the general governor of arms of Castile, D. Baltazar Rojas Pantoja, who established his headquarters in the Paço de Giela, in an energetic offensive on the Minho. The highest point in the municipality is located in Pedrada, at an altitude of 1,416 metres, in the Serra de Soajo.