Arao

Arao is a small locality in the municipality of Valença, in the Viana do Castelo district. It sits in the rural terrain immediately south of Valença, where the agricultural landscape of the Minho approaches the river that marks the Portuguese-Spanish border.

The name may derive from an archaic personal name or a pre-Roman toponym, typical of the deep settlement history of the Minho valley where place names often predate the Romanisation of the territory. The surrounding landscape is the characteristic Minho mosaic of granite walls, maize, vine, and stone farmhouses.

Arao lies among the final rural localities on the Camino Português before the route enters Valença’s fortified walls and crosses the international bridge into Tui.