It is located in Fortaleza de Valença, in front of the church of Santo Estevão, on Rua José Rodrigues, city of Valença, in the district of Viana do Castelo, North region and sub-region of Alto Minho
The town of Valença located on the River Minho borders the important Spanish city of Tui, which was a fundamental crossing point throughout the Middle Ages.
Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela crossed the river from its pier as the Romanized populations had done.
The Valença pillory is made up of a milestone built by Emperor Tibério Cláudio that marked the Roman road connecting Braga to Tuy and Lugo, passing through other places such as Prado, Ponte de Lima and Paredes de Coura.
Despite the antiquity of the monolith and for a long time known as Contrasta due to its location opposite Tuy.
The first charter was granted during the reign of D. Sancho I, along with the order of settlement of the land confirmed by D. Afonso II, followed by a new charter by D. Afonso III using the toponym of Valença (1262) and finally the Manueline charter of 1512.
The existence of a pillory prior to the one mentioned here was erected in the 17th century using the Roman piece.
The milestone originally placed at the site of Arinhos in Valença do Minho where the crossing was made was discovered in the eighties of the 17th century and taken to the village where it served as a picket fence.
The monument currently erected at one end of the forecourt of the Church of Santo Estêvão next to a cross and is an epigraphed, cylindrical/monolithic milestone measuring approximately 2 m high and 50 cm in diameter with a smooth surface, with the exception of the epigraphed area (approximately in the upper third of the monument).
The inscription appears in the following translated text: "Emperor Tiberius Claudius, Augustus Caesar, highest German pontiff, five times emperor, three consul, and three of the tribunician power, father of the country'''' and from here to Braga 42 miles". The distance to Braga is given here in relation to the city of Tuy and is accurate.
The reference to the third possession of tribunician power by the emperor allows us to date the intervention on this section of the road to the year 43 AD (1st century AD).
The description of the Roman Milestone: Roman Milestone adapted to Pelourinho is from the 17th century. I, Monolith measuring 2.15 meters high by 54cm in diameter and transferred to this location in 1680”.
Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela crossed the river from its pier as the Romanized populations had done.
The Valença pillory is made up of a milestone built by Emperor Tibério Cláudio that marked the Roman road connecting Braga to Tuy and Lugo, passing through other places such as Prado, Ponte de Lima and Paredes de Coura.
Despite the antiquity of the monolith and for a long time known as Contrasta due to its location opposite Tuy.
The first charter was granted during the reign of D. Sancho I, along with the order of settlement of the land confirmed by D. Afonso II, followed by a new charter by D. Afonso III using the toponym of Valença (1262) and finally the Manueline charter of 1512.
The existence of a pillory prior to the one mentioned here was erected in the 17th century using the Roman piece.
The milestone originally placed at the site of Arinhos in Valença do Minho where the crossing was made was discovered in the eighties of the 17th century and taken to the village where it served as a picket fence.
The monument currently erected at one end of the forecourt of the Church of Santo Estêvão next to a cross and is an epigraphed, cylindrical/monolithic milestone measuring approximately 2 m high and 50 cm in diameter with a smooth surface, with the exception of the epigraphed area (approximately in the upper third of the monument).
The inscription appears in the following translated text: "Emperor Tiberius Claudius, Augustus Caesar, highest German pontiff, five times emperor, three consul, and three of the tribunician power, father of the country'''' and from here to Braga 42 miles". The distance to Braga is given here in relation to the city of Tuy and is accurate.
The reference to the third possession of tribunician power by the emperor allows us to date the intervention on this section of the road to the year 43 AD (1st century AD).
The description of the Roman Milestone: Roman Milestone adapted to Pelourinho is from the 17th century. I, Monolith measuring 2.15 meters high by 54cm in diameter and transferred to this location in 1680”.
