Côa Valley Archaeological Park
The Côa Valley Archaeological Park (PAVC) was created in August 1996 with the aim of managing, safeguarding, musealising and exhibiting the Côa Valley rock art.
The Côa art was listed as a National Monument in 1997, and was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1998, based on the following criteria:
“The Upper Palaeolithic rock-art of the Côa valley is an outstanding example of the sudden flowering of creative genius at the dawn of human cultural development;
The Côa Valley rock art throws light on the social, economic, and spiritual life on the life of the early ancestor of humankind in a wholly exceptional manner”.
Rock art
The Côa Valley is one of the world’s most significant rock art sites and the most important Palaeolithic open air rock art. About five dozens art specimens are spread along the last 17 kilometres of the river’s course, at it flows into the river Douro.
This extensive art gallery boasts engravings dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic Age (over 10.000 years ago); though the valley also bears witness to paintings and engravings from the Neolithic and the Calcolithic, engravings from the Iron Age, as well as from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, when the millers, the last Côa engravers, abandoned the valley. Different men and women left their mark on the rock formations dating back 25.000 years.
Rio Côa
The territory
In order to preserve engravings and their contemporary archaeological sites, the PAVC manages a total area of 200 square metres corresponding to the last kilometres of the Côa river valley where it flows in to the river Douro. This territory includes parts of the municipalities of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Meda, Pinhel and Vila Nova de Foz Côa.
Visits to the rock art sites
Considering the special features and conditions of the Côa art gallery, the Archaeological Park organises visits to the site with the main goal of ensuring its fruition without jeopardising its state of conservation.
Visitors have the choice of taking a look at the four of the most important Côa rock art specimens: Penascosa, Canada do Inferno, Ribeira de Piscos and Fariseu (seasonal visits only). Visits to these sites are conducted by specialist guides in cross-country vehicles departing from the Park’s main office and from two reception centres in Castelo Melhor and Muxagata.
Visits should be booked in advance through the following contacts:
Tel: +351 279768260/1
Fax: +351 279768270
E-mail: visitas.pavc@igespar.pt
Some practical advice:
Comfortable clothes and walking shoes are recommended.
Due to high temperatures in summer, visitors are advised to take a hat, a sun protection cream and water. In winter, waterproof clothing is advisable as umbrellas will not be allowed near the rock engravings.
Visits to rock art engravings
Penascosa - Castelo Melhor
Canada do Inferno - Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Ribeira de Piscos - Muxagata
Fariseu - Muxagata
Following Palaeolithic Hunters Tracks – Algodres and Almendra
Educational Services
The Côa Valley Archaeological Park (PAVC) is visited by a significant number of students from different levels of knowledge coming from all parts of the country. This is a privileged group for whom special educational activities are developed.
Visits are conducted in small groups, which leave students with a lot of spare time while they wait for their turn. It is very important that visits are well planned, so that this time is spent on workshops or other activities, or for visiting the Reception Centres’ villages.
Visits to the Côa Valley should not be limited to History students, as it is a multidisciplinary subject involving different other areas such as Biology and Natural Sciences (Fauna and Flora), Geography (Human and Physical Geography) or Geology.
As these visits involve a number of human and material resources that need to be planned in advance — specialist guides and cross-country vehicles —, you are requested to book well in advance, like at the beginning of the academic year, using the following contacts:
Côa Valley Archaeological Park
Avenida Gago Coutinho 19-A
5150-610 Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Tel: +351 279768260/1
Fax: +351 279768270
E-mail: visitas.pavc@igespar.pt
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES - PROGRAMME
- OTHER ACTIVITIES
The PAVC may cooperate in other areas such as:
• To host temporary exhibitions promoted by schools;
• To host professional training/internship programmes;
• To provide human resources and equipment for disseminating educational activities in schools
In order to plan any visit or any other type of activity related to the Côa Valley heritage, please contact:
Marta Mendes or Rosa Jardim
Côa Valley Archaeological Park
Tel: +351 279768264
Fax: +351 279768270
E-mail: actividadeseducativas.pavc@igespar.pt
For educational support, please contact:
Marta Mendes
E-mail: mmendes.pavc@igespar.pt
For any exhibitions, please contact:
Rosa Jardim
E-mail: rjardim.pavc@igespar.pt
Tourist/Cultural Tours Nearby
Cultural heritage
We suggest you come and discover the landscape and heritage of the Côa Valley by trying some regional products such as the local bread, the typical “bola tosca” (a kind of a meat loaf), biscuits, figs, wines, olive oil, honey, almonds and almond sweets. Nested between granite and schist, the Côa Valley is a region with an ample view, marked by light colour dovecotes, and white flowers, when almond trees are in full blossom, between February and March, and the different tones of the autumn vines.
- Almendra (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Castelo Melhor (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Chãs (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Muxagata (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Santa Comba and Tomadias (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Vila Nova de Foz Côa
- Algodres and Vale de Afonsinho (Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo)
- Longroiva (Meda)
- Cidadelhe (Pinhel)
Archaeological sites
Noteworthy outside the Park boundaries are the ruins of Castelo Velho, dating from the Copper Age/Bronze Age, those of Castanheiro do Vento, and the Prazo and Romanzil sites in Freixo de Numão (Vila Nova de Foz Côa); the Roman temple in Almofala (Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo); Marialva, an important Roman settlement, that became the municipal seat in the medieval and modern age (Meda), and the Roman vestiges in Coriscada (Meda).
- Museum of Casa Grande and Archaeological routes of Freixo de Numão
- Castelo Velho in Freixo de Numão
- Almofala Tower
- Marialva
Natural heritage
Part of the PAVC area is within the Côa Valley’s buffer zone. Besides, the existence of rupiculous birds led to the recent classification of this area as a Special Protection Zone (Birds Directive no. 79/409/EEC, Habitats Directive no. 92/43/EEC, Decree Law no. 384-B/99), ensuring its entry into the 2000 Natura Network, the EC network of protected nature areas. This classification makes provisions for safeguarding, managing and controlling any bird species in danger of extinction, so as to ensure their survival and reproduction.
Egyptian and Griffon vultures, the Bonelli’s eagle and the royal eagle are four species in danger of extinction in the EC. They can be found along the Côa valley which is one of the main nesting habitats in Portugal. Despite having different biological habits (the former two being scavengers, while eagles are essentially predators), they all depend on similar ecological conditions and habitats. Such habitats correspond to the agricultural mosaic landscapes found in the Côa valley slopes and in the adjacent plateau. Noteworthy are the arborescent bushes for sheep grazing, alternating with traditional olive and almond trees, natural pastures and rainfed arable foodcrops, which are themselves a subsidiary of the cattle industry. (Association of Migratory Herding and Nature)
The International Douro Natural Park is located nearby.
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24 different pannels
Authors: A. M. Baptista e M. V. Gomes
Photos: João Zilhão and CNART
Unit Price: 1.00 EUR
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Côa Archaeological Park
