Discover Santar: Culture, Gardens and Scenic Trails

Santar combines a traditional townscape with historic buildings, gardens and a route that links culture and landscape. Narrow, winding streets lead to squares with buildings of architectural and scenic significance, as well as to quintas and gardens. For your travel planning, this makes Santar a place you can get to know both through its history and through its paths and viewpoints.

Townscape, gardens and historic buildings

A particular highlight is the Santar Vila Jardim project. It preserves a continuous sequence of garden terraces connected to the Casa dos Condes de Santar e Magalhães, the Casa da Magnólia, the garden of the Igreja da Misericórdia, the Jardim dos Linhares, the Casa Ibérico Nogueira, the Casa das Fidalgas and other houses, extending across vineyards. This combination of houses, terraces and vineyards brings the character of the town to life, without limiting your exploration to a single building.

The religious and secular buildings also reflect different historical periods. The Igreja da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Santar features Mannerist design with Flemish influences. The Solar dos Condes de Santar dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Paço dos Cunhas de Santar is classified as an “Imóvel de Interesse Público”, meaning publicly recognised cultural heritage of special interest. Those interested in religious traditions will also find the Semana Santa in Santar, an event described as one of the defining moments of religious tourism in the municipality of Nelas.

The PR2 Santar route between town and countryside

The PR2 Santar route starts at Largo do Paço dos Cunhas and crosses the town towards Casa de Santar. It follows an old paved path of Roman origin and takes a short detour to a medieval lagareta. This allows the historical dimension of the town to be combined with active exploration.

Beyond the townscape, the route reveals another side of Santar. The section along the Rio Dão runs through lush riverside vegetation. At the same time, the route offers views of the Serra do Caramulo across the vineyards and townscape of Santar. These contrasting impressions can help you decide whether to focus your stay more on historical discoveries, landscape experiences or a combination of both.

A suitable base for different kinds of days

When choosing your holiday apartment or holiday home, you can consider Santar as a base for a stay where local history, garden culture and a landscape-oriented route come together. If you plan a culturally focused day, the churches, the Solar dos Condes de Santar and the Paço dos Cunhas will be at the centre of your interest. For a more active day, the PR2 Santar route—with its old paved path, the Rio Dão, the lagareta and views of the Serra do Caramulo—provides a useful guide. Accommodation in Santar may therefore be particularly suitable if you want to combine different interests during your trip without reducing the town to just one attraction.

For further orientation, you can also visit the pages for Canas De Senhorim, Lapa do Lobo, Aguieira, Vila Ruiva and Nelas.

Regional cuisine at the Paço dos Cunhas

Santar also has its own culinary identity: the Paço dos Cunhas is home to a restaurant that preserves the cuisine of Beira through contemporary-style dishes. This adds a regional flavour to the exploration of the historic town. Santar therefore offers several points of access for your travel planning—from its winding townscape, gardens and cultural heritage to its route, riverside landscape and cuisine.

For the higher-level travel overview: Nelas.