Vidago is a village and a former-

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Chaves, in the Portuguese district of Vila Real. Until its merger into the parish of Vidago, Arcossó, Selhariz e Vilarinho das Paranheiras, the civil parish administered an area of and included a population of 1186 inhabitants.

Notable people

Pedro Gonçalves - footballer, currently plays for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and the

Portugal national football team The Portugal national football team () has represented Portugal in men's international Association football, football competitions since 1921. The national team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the governing body for ...

History

Known as a spa town, Vidago was a centre of

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

treatments dating back to the late 19th century and early 20th century. For a long time distance was an impediment to the development of the town, due to the difficulty of transport. Guests would arrive by coach from Porto, using roads that were often little more than dirt path. Finally in 1907 the railroad between Régua and Vila Real was extended to

Pedras Salgadas Pedras Salgadas () is a small spa town in the district of Vila Real, district, Vila Real, in Northern Portugal, located approximately 37 km north of the district capital of Vila Real, Portugal, Vila Real. It is famous for its mineral waters. T ...

, to the south of Vidago. Three years later the first train arrived at the Vidago station, resulting in renewed popularity of the spa. During the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

, the popularity of the waters in Vidago resulted in the construction of the Hotel Palace of Vidago, which became the retreat of some Portuguese monarchs. The spa town saw its period of splendor from 1875 to 1877 when King Luís I made consecutive visits. The fame of the curative powers of the waters spread so far that from 1876 to 1889 they were awarded prizes in Madrid, Paris, Vienna and Rio de Janeiro. For this, Vidago was once one of the most visited Portuguese spas; the water is apparently effective in the treatment of digestive problems, as it contains sodium bicarbonate and, according to publicity leaflets, radioactive elements. Bottled mineral waters ''Salus'' and ''Campilho'' are extracted in Vidago. When the Palace Hotel was built in 1910, it was one of the most luxurious on the Iberian Peninsula, that included concerts, tennis and croquet courts, and, on the small island within the lake, there was a spacious skating rink. Following a period of remodelling, refurbishing and renovation, the 5-star hotel reopened in 2010, which included an expanded golf course and park.

References

{{Reflist Former parishes of Chaves