The manor house “Casa do Santo” was built in the 18th century in the picturesque historic village of Provesende, Sabrosa.
The coat of arms of this House was granted by letter from Queen Maria I on May 6, 1786, making it truly unique.
Joaquim Pinheiro de Azevedo Leite Pereira (Provesende, February 9, 1829 – January 17, 1918), 10th Lord of Casa do Santo (great-great-grandfather of the current owners), became known as “Savior of the Douro” for having fought the phylloxera plague which, in the 19th century, practically destroyed the vineyards in the Douro. Phylloxera, an insect originating in North America, appeared for the first time in Portugal, more precisely in the municipality of Sabrosa, in 1863. It was Joaquim Pinheiro de Azevedo Leite Pereira, one of the largest landowners in the region and resident of this manor, who started the fight against the plague that devastated the oldest demarcated region in the world: the Douro.
Portugal, together with France, was one of the first countries in Europe where the plague was observed. With its rapid spread, in a period of about 20 years, most of the vineyards were decimated and most of the winegrowers fell into ruin.
Joaquim Pinheiro de Azevedo Leite Pereira studied effect of grafting Portuguese varieties on American varieties in the vineyards resistance to the plague and introduced the new technique in the vineyards of the Douro and the rest of the country. It was through this process that Portuguese wine production was restored. This famous winegrower also created a school in Provesende, where he taught viticulture and trained grafters, who toured the region teaching the new techniques that made it possible to combat phylloxera.
The Douro Valley could also be called an enchanted valley, such is the beauty and enchantment that its landscapes offer.
Departing from Porto, where the river flows into the ocean and where the Douro wines (table wine) and Port (fortified wine) produced on its slopes also flow, we can discover this Cultural Landscape, classified World Heritage by UNESCO in 2001, in several ways: by road, by train, on a cruise ship, or even by helicopter. None of them will leave us indifferent.
