Vairão

Vairão is a small parish in the municipality of Vila do Conde, in northern Portugal, crossed by the official route of the Central Portuguese Way. Its hallmark is the Monastery of Santa Cristina de Vairão, a Benedictine monastery founded in the 12th century that hosted a female community for centuries and still presides over the surrounding rural settlement. The conventual church preserves Romanesque and Baroque elements and is part of the Jacobean heritage of the lower Portuguese Minho region. Around the monastery extends a peaceful agricultural area, with granite stone houses, traditional granaries and "vinho verde" vineyards. Pilgrims completing their first stage from Porto find private accommodations, rural houses accustomed to receiving walkers, and the historic monastery hostel itself. The stop allows recovery in a silent setting before tackling the long journey that will take pilgrims to Barcelos the next day, deep in the heart of the Minho.