Santana

Santana takes its name from a chapel erected in honor of Santa Ana. Settled around 1550, this parish preserves several typical Minho influences brought by the first settlers that came from Braga.

Even today, you can see corn-on-the-cob left to dry on top of the roofs. The corn crop, a very popular practice in Minho (North of Portugal), is quite common in this municipality.

Apart from agricultural practice, this area lives off crafts and tourism. It is a privileged land, in terms of landscape and natural heritage. Make sure to visit the local Farmers Market and watch the men market the delicious agricultural products which they harvest from their own crops.

In this parish, we recommend a visit to the Madeira Theme Park and the Main Church of Santana whose construction began in 1698, although it was only completed in 1745.

This baroque temple has undergone numerous renovations. Initially, the vestry was built on the north side, but they felt it needed to be transferred to the South, which was considered the drier side and thus more suitable for storing implements. This move did not, however, prevent the degradation of the temple which recently became the target of an intervention.

With so much work, the church almost has no signs of its original layout, but it has a fantastic high altar with a gilded altarpiece and a canvas in the centre of the temple, which represents St. Anne and St. Joachim.