São Gião

São Gião is a parish ("freguesia" in Portuguese), in the North of Portugal, on Serra da Estrela, the highest mountain range in Portugal. It belongs to the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital, and the district ("distrito") of Coimbra.

It is located at 40°20'11.93N, 7°47'57.43W and lies at an altitude of 704m, in the Beira region.

It is an old Roman trading post. The old Roman bridge is still visible and in use to this day.

The town has a magnificent church - Igreja Matrix also know as the Igreja Matriz de São Gião (também denominada por Catedral das Beiras). This is an excellent building in the Baroque style that dates back to 1795. It has 102 magnificent hand painted panels on the roof that are well worth the trip to this small, hidden village on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela.

ee also

* Beira
* Serra da Estrela
* Oliveira do Hospital
* Coimbra