Cavez

How long to stay?

A break is enough, but take it at the bridge. Cavez is not a stage town, though there is a room to be had in a residencial in the village. You arrive from Cerva in the morning, and from the bridge it is still 15.2 kilometres to Cabeceiras de Basto. Cross the bridge slowly, look for the inscription and sit by the river for half an hour.

Cavez in Ninja numbers

• 9.1 kilometres after Cerva you reach the bridge, at kilometre 192.3 of the Caminho Leon de Rosmithal.
• 95 metres long and around 17 metres high is the Ponte de Cavez.
• 5 arches carry it, three pointed and two round, all of different sizes.
• 1910 is the year it was declared a national monument.
• 2.7 kilometres from the bridge to the village of Cavez, then another 12.5 to Cabeceiras de Basto.

Arriving: down to the Tâmega

From Cerva the route climbs once more to 463 metres, then descends to the Tâmega, the lowest point of the day at around 180 metres. With the river you cross into the municipality of Cabeceiras de Basto.

In brief: the bridge and its builder

The Ponte de Cavez dates from the 13th century. The construction was initiated by a friar, Frei Lourenço Mendes, and it was built by a master called Martin Esteves, known as "Martin Marra". The people of the village, so the story goes, doubted he would ever finish the work. When the bridge stood and held, he is said to have died of joy. According to the legend he lies buried at one of the bridgeheads, and the stone reads: "Esta é a ponte de Cavez e aqui jaz quem a fez", this is the bridge of Cavez, and here lies the one who built it.

When Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál, called "Leon de Rosmithal" in Portugal, rode to Braga with his men in 1466, his chronicler noted a "puente de piedra" over the Tâmega. Very probably it was this one.

By the river: what to see

Everything is at the bridge or a few steps from it.

• Ponte de Cavez: Five granite arches over the Tâmega, with pointed cutwaters on the piers. In the 19th century it became part of a country road; in 1959 a flood tore away the downstream parapet, in 1960 it was given pavements and iron railings, and in 2019 it was restored. For pilgrims it is one of the most beautiful structures on the route.
• The inscription: Look at the bridgehead for the stone with the saying about the builder.
• Casa da Ponte: On the right bank stands an 18th-century manor house with older parts. A leper house is said to have stood here in the late Middle Ages, and according to the municipality of Ribeira de Pena a stretch of Roman paving survives in the courtyard. We have not found out whether you can go in.

Honestly

• One guesthouse, no confirmed café. Cavez has a residencial but no pilgrim bed, and we found no confirmed café. From the bridge it is 15.2 kilometres to Cabeceiras de Basto.

Ninja tips

• Take your lunch break here. From Cerva you have been walking for a good two hours, and you won't find a nicer spot on this stage.
• Come on 24 August. That is the day of the pilgrimage to the Capela de São Bartolomeu in Cavez.

Onward: to Cabeceiras de Basto

After the river you reach the village of Cavez after 2.7 kilometres, then after another 6.9 kilometres Arco de Baúlhe, the place Rožmitál's chronicler called "Barcodevonde". From there it is another 5.6 kilometres to Cabeceiras de Basto, the next stage town.

Deep dive: Here lies the one who built it

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Cavez. About two minutes' reading.

A river as a border

Here the Tâmega separates two landscapes. On one side lie the mountains of Trás-os-Montes, where you come from, on the other the Basto, which already belongs to the Minho. Anyone who wanted to cross needed a bridge, and since the thirteenth century there has been this one.

A builder who died of joy

The story people tell about the bridge is not about kings, but about a craftsman. His name was Martin Esteves, and people called him Martin Marra. Nobody believed he would finish the work. He did finish it, and when the bridge held, he died of joy. At least that is what the legend says. The inscription on his grave is short and proud: this is the bridge of Cavez, and here lies the one who built it.

What the bridge gives you

For more than seven hundred years people have walked over these stones, in the year 1466 probably also an embassy from Bohemia on its way to Santiago. The bridge has survived floods and rebuilding. When you cross it, you are one of many. And you arrive.