Furniture and Roman gold in Paredes

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Paredes lies in the Vale do Sousa, and archaeological finds show that people chose this land to live and die in more than 5,000 years ago. The Romans came for gold, and the intensive mining at Castromil and the Banjas, in Sobreira, left numerous shafts, galleries and open cuts. The municipality grew from the medieval Julgado de Aguiar de Sousa, and from the end of the 16th century its functions moved to the place called Paredes, by the road between Porto and Vila Real, which had a jail and a courthouse. Noble families founded four monasteries here, at Cete, Lordelo, Vandoma and Vilela. The municipality of Paredes was created in 1837, Queen Maria II made it a town on 7 February 1844, and it became a city on 20 June 1991. José Guilherme Pacheco, known as the "King of Paredes", led the council in 1864–1871 and part of 1878 and promoted roads, transport, communications and education. Furniture-making is the trade most tied to Paredes. According to studies cited by the council, woodworking began at the Monastery of Vilela, whose origins go back to the 10th century, where the Canons Regular of St Augustine used the power of the River Ferreira to saw wood, first for farm tools and wooden ploughs and only later for chairs and furniture. Money brought home by emigrants returning from Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the furniture they brought with them, also inspired local cabinetmakers. The monastery, a property of public interest since 2013, now houses the Museu do Mobiliário de Paredes, which brings together craft know-how, industrial memory and contemporary creativity in wood.

The craft beer scene in Paredes is still waiting to be discovered, so look to nearby places such as Porto when planning where to find a local brew.