Mosteiro e Igreja de Santa Maria de Salzedas

In its time, it was one of the largest Cistercian monasteries in Portugal, the grantee of vast lands around it, with the obligation to cultivate and populate them. Its construction began in 1155, shortly after the donation of the land made to the Order by Egas Moniz, assistant to D. Afonso Henriques, and his wife Teresa Afonso. It was consecrated in 1255, when the monastic complex was complete. The church, of large dimensions, stands out, imposing, in the middle of the uniform houses of the small village that was formed to the east. Between the centuries. In the 16th and 18th centuries, the temple was extensively remodeled and the façade that can be seen today, which is unfinished, is completely 18th century. Inside there are still traces of the primitive structure, namely one of the apsidal chapels that still maintains the capitals with Romanesque decoration. Two paintings attributed to the 16th century master Vasco Fernandes (Grão Vasco) representing Santo Peregrino and São Sebastião and several other paintings from the 17th century, by Bento Coelho da Silveira, stand out. The monastic part developed towards the south, in conjunction with the River Torno, in fulfillment of the Cistercian requirement to build their dependencies next to watercourses. Currently, only two cloisters remain.