Discover Fiães and its hillfort
Fiães is known for its hillfort on Monte Redondo, where digs found Iron Age walls and fine Roman pottery. Read on for a name traced to a man called Úlfilas, a chapel built where a donkey stopped and the chestnut feast held at the chapel every 8 December.
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Fiães is a parish and city in the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, in the district of Aveiro and the Porto metropolitan area. It became a town in 1985 and a city in 2001. The most likely origin of its name, according to the philologist Leite de Vasconcelos, is "Ulfilanis", from an estate once belonging to a man named Úlfilas. In the Middle Ages the parish's patron was the Monastery of Pedroso, and in 1590 the patronage passed to the Congregation of São João Evangelista.
On the Monte de Santa Maria, also called Monte Redondo, lies the Castro de Fiães. According to Portugal's heritage authority, excavations in 1971 uncovered finds from the 4th and 5th centuries AD, one of the site's busiest phases, including fine Roman terra sigillata pottery, a large storage jar and roof tiles, while test pits in 1980 located a stretch of the Iron Age wall from the first phase of occupation. Sadly, most of the hillfort has since been destroyed by a nearby quarry and building work. Some have suggested that it was Lancobriga, a stop on the Roman road from Lisbon to Braga, though this has not been confirmed.
On the slope of the hill stands the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, built east of the old excavation area. Local legend says that when Macieira and Além disagreed over where to build it, the image of Our Lady was placed on a donkey, and the chapel was raised where the animal stopped, facing the sea. On the afternoon of 8 December a donkey is still led to the chapel yard carrying chestnuts and pine needles for the traditional magusto, the chestnut feast.
The craft beer scene in Fiães is still waiting to be discovered. With Santa Maria da Feira and Porto close by, travellers can look around the wider area to see what is being poured nearby.
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Fiães is a parish and city in the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, in the district of Aveiro and the Porto metropolitan area. It became a town in 1985 and a city in 2001. In the Middle Ages the parish's patron was the Monastery of Pedroso, and in 1590 the patronage passed to a religious congregation.
According to the philologist Leite de Vasconcelos, the most likely origin of the name is 'Ulfilanis', from an estate that once belonged to a man named Úlfilas. On Monte de Santa Maria, also called Monte Redondo, lies a hillfort whose first phase of occupation dates from the Iron Age.
Excavations in 1971 uncovered finds from the 4th and 5th centuries AD, including fine Roman terra sigillata pottery, a large storage jar and roof tiles. Test pits in 1980 located a stretch of the Iron Age wall. Sadly, most of the hillfort has since been destroyed by a nearby quarry and building work.
Local legend says that when two places disagreed over where to build the hillside chapel, the image of Our Lady was placed on a donkey, and the chapel was raised where the animal stopped, facing the sea. On the afternoon of 8 December a donkey is still led to the chapel yard with chestnuts for the magusto, the chestnut feast.