Estádio Cidade de Barcelos

Originally a Roman settlement, Barcelos was first recognised as a city by an 1140 charter from King Afonso Henriques – the first king of Portugal – and is a picturesque warren of narrow streets and historic buildings. The city is famed for the tale of the Barcelos Rooster; a pilgrim about to be wrongly hanged for stealing protested to his judge – who was eating a roast cockerel – that if he was innocent, the rooster would stand up and crow three times. It did, and a legend was born.

Football in Barcelos
The Estádio Cidade de Barcelos has been home to local club Gil Vicente FC since 2004. The Barcelos side were founded in 1924 with the merger of Barcelos SC and União Foot-ball Club Barcellense, taking their name from a Portuguese playwright, poet and goldsmith. The stadium hosted Portugal's 4-1 friendly win against Canada on 26 March 2005 and two UEFA European Under-21 Championship games a year later, and stages its first European final at the Regions' Cup.