The rooster legend of Barcelos
Barcelos is best known as the home of the rooster, the city on the River Cávado where a wrongly condemned pilgrim was saved. Read on for its Gothic bridge, a palace of the counts, a UNESCO-recognised craft tradition and a weekly fair that goes back centuries.
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Barcelos stands on the River Cávado, on the Portuguese Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela, and is best known as the home of the Rooster of Barcelos. It became a city in 1928 and is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Crafts and Folk Art.
The legend of the rooster is linked to the medieval cross kept at the Paço dos Condes. According to the town council's telling, a pilgrim from Galicia on his way to Santiago was wrongly sentenced to hang for a crime. Brought before the judge, who was feasting with friends, he pointed to a roast rooster on the table and declared that it would crow when he was hanged. As he was being hanged, the rooster rose and crowed; the judge rushed to the gallows and found the man saved by a loose knot. Years later the pilgrim returned and had the monument raised in praise of St James and the Virgin.
The Gothic medieval bridge, from the early 14th century, links Barcelos and Barcelinhos on five arches. The Paço dos Condes de Barcelos was built in the first half of the 15th century on the orders of Afonso, 8th Count of Barcelos and 1st Duke of Bragança, and the Archaeological Museum was installed there in the early 20th century. Building of the Igreja Matriz began in the second half of the 14th century, and the Museu de Olaria, created in 1963 and opened in 1995, tells the story of local pottery.
Come on a Thursday for the weekly fair in the Campo da Feira, which goes back at least to a charter of 1412 and still sells local produce, pottery, roosters, wood, linen and embroidery. In early May the Festa das Cruzes celebrates the cross said to have appeared in the Campo da Feira in 1504, with flower-petal carpets, the Batalha das Flores and the Procissão da Invenção da Santa Cruz.
The craft beer scene in Barcelos is still waiting to be discovered. After the fair or the riverside, travellers can look further afield to nearby Braga and the wider Minho to see what is being poured there.
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Frequently asked questions
It tells of a pilgrim from Galicia, wrongly sentenced to hang, who swore that a roast rooster on the judge's table would crow when he was hanged. The rooster rose and crowed, and a loose knot saved him. Years later he returned and raised a monument, a medieval cross now linked to the legend.
The fair is held every Thursday in the Campo da Feira. It goes back at least to a charter of 1412 and still sells local produce, pottery, roosters, wood, linen and embroidery, making it a good day to see the crafts that earned the city its UNESCO recognition.
The highlights are the five-arched Gothic bridge from the early 14th century linking the city with Barcelinhos, the 15th-century palace of the counts that now houses an archaeological museum, and the main church begun in the 14th century. A pottery museum, opened in 1995, tells the story of local pottery.
In early May the city holds a festival celebrating a cross said to have appeared in the Campo da Feira in 1504. The streets are covered with carpets of flower petals, and the programme includes a battle of flowers and a religious procession, making it a lively time to visit the city.