Marco de Canavezes · PT

Casa dos Arcos

On a quiet lane at Rio de Galinhas, on the edge of Marco de Canaveses in Portugal's green north, the Casa dos Arcos is a stately old solar that takes its very name from its most striking feature: a double tier of stone arches that runs the length of its principal facade. Built by the Almeida Peres family across the 16th and 17th centuries and later granted a coat of arms, it is one of the oldest houses of its kind in the whole municipality and has been protected as a Property of Public Interest since 1977. What draws architecture lovers here is the unusual rhythm of the elevation—full round arches at street level giving way to flattened segmental arches on the noble floor above—while the building itself is now entering its most interesting chapter yet: the municipality has bought the neglected house and is restoring it to become a centre devoted to the region's signature white wine, Vinho Verde.