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Cerveja Quinas (Quinas Beverage Industries)
0.9 mi from the city centre · Alfena · Portugal
Walk old Alfena
Alfena, a city in the municipality of Valongo near Porto, lies on the River Leça. Walk the old core around Rua, cross the Romanesque São Lázaro bridge on the medieval route to Guimarães, and discover the town's place in the history of Portuguese tin and wooden toys.
1 brewery · 0 venues
Alfena is a city in the municipality of Valongo, in the Porto metropolitan area, on the River Leça. Its early history is tied to a medieval leper hospital.
The oldest known document mentioning Alfena dates from 1214 and refers to the "lepers of Alfena". The parish council explains that the leper hospital stood at what is now the locality of Rua, and that, according to some historians, its fame made the name Alfena prevail over the parish's medieval name, São Vicente de Queimadela. Royal privileges linked to the hospital, including exemption from taxes owed to the king, drew settlers to the area. The medievalist Carlos Ferreira de Almeida described a medieval group of road, bridge, chapel and leprosarium here, on the old route between Porto and Guimarães. The Romanesque bridge over the Leça, now known as the Ponte de São Lázaro, is one of Alfena's oldest monuments.
After Valongo municipality was created in 1836, Alfena briefly hosted the town council in the spring of 1838, following unrest in Valongo over new taxes on meat, wine and olive oil. It became a vila in 1989 and was raised to city status on 6 April 2011.
Alfena also has a place in the history of Portuguese toys. The parish council records small toy workshops here in the first half of the 20th century, and José Augusto Júnior, who founded a tin and wooden toy factory in the early 1930s, travelled to Nuremberg to learn new techniques and became the first maker in Portugal to use wind-up mechanisms with metal ribbon springs. Walk the old core around Rua and the São Lázaro bridge to see where this story began.
Craft beer in Alfena is still a rare find, which makes tracking down a local glass part of the adventure. After a walk by the Leça, ask around for something freshly brewed.
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Breweries in Alfena
Frequently asked questions
The Romanesque bridge over the River Leça, now known as the Ponte de São Lázaro, is one of its oldest monuments. The medievalist Carlos Ferreira de Almeida described a medieval group of road, bridge, chapel and leprosarium here, on the old route between Porto and Guimarães. Walk the old core around Rua to see it.
Its fame is tied to a medieval leper hospital. The oldest known document, from 1214, refers to the "lepers of Alfena", and according to some historians the hospital's renown made the name prevail over the parish's medieval name, São Vicente de Queimadela. Royal privileges linked to the hospital drew settlers to the area.
The parish council records small toy workshops here in the first half of the 20th century. José Augusto Júnior founded a tin and wooden toy factory in the early 1930s, travelled to Nuremberg to learn new techniques and became the first maker in Portugal to use wind-up mechanisms with metal ribbon springs.
Yes, briefly. After Valongo municipality was created in 1836, Alfena hosted the town council in the spring of 1838, following unrest in Valongo over new taxes on meat, wine and olive oil. It later became a vila in 1989 and was raised to city status on 6 April 2011.