The festival of Saint Paio is linked to the ancient parish of Várzea, whose church was already mentioned in 897 on the site where the chapel of S. Paio stands today. It lasts four days in July and brings together people from all the surrounding villages: it opens with a mass for the deceased, continues with the candlelight procession from Póvoa to the Capela Nova, and reaches its high point on Sunday, with the procession from the Capela Velha to the Capela Nova and the solemn mass in honour of Saint Paio.
programme
Friday 10 July
20h00Mass in memory of the deceased from all parishes, at the Capela Nova de S. Paio
Várzea is one of the places that make up Canedo, in the north of the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, near the river Douro. It was once a parish in its own right and already had a church in 897, on the site where the chapel of Saint Paio stands today. Canedo, which brought together Várzea, Mota and Canedo, received its charter from King Afonso II in 1212 and was elevated to town status in 1997.
