Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »
Countries
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan
Cities
  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Rose Window, St. John’s Episcopal Church
St. John's Episcopal Church
Frank & Nancy’s Marine Corps Museum
Giant Squid Museum
The Old Limestone Arch
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Food window and entrance of center.
Indian Arts Center
Steaming Tender Restaurant
Tiptree Jam Museum entrance.
Tiptree Jam Museum
The Reading Room blends the intimacy of an inviting bar with the inviting solace of a good bookstore.
The Reading Room
Building
The Mountain House
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
One of the gargoyles that adorns Oxford’s Magdalen College.
8 Gargoyles and Grotesques Hiding in Plain Sight
Only-in-Anchorage Winter Traditions
Moose are frequently spotted around Flattop Mountain and the Glen Alps Trailhead.
Anchorage: A City Within the Wild
Where to See the World’s Creepiest Dolls and Toys

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Portugal Santuário Rupestre de Panóias (Panoias Sanctuary)
AO Edited

Santuário Rupestre de Panóias (Panoias Sanctuary)

This Gallo-Roman sanctuary is dedicated to Serápis, god of the underworld.

Vale de Nogueiras, Portugal

H hpvr profile photo
Added By
hpvr
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Foundations of temple with tanks inside.   João Carvalho
Temple Foundations.   Vitor Oliveira
Access steps.   Carlos de Figueiredo
“Gastra” - round cavity.   Carlos de Figueiredo
Inscription.   João Carvalho
Votive tanks.   Carlos Cunha
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

This sanctuary was constructed during the late 2nd-century and early 3rd-century.

The cult of Serapis started in Egypt and was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans, until Emperor Theodosius banned all pagan cults and adopted Christianity as the official religion in 391 CE.

It's believed there were originally 11 rocks, as recorded by early archaeologists, but only a small part is currently accessible.

The sanctuary is composed of tanks of different sizes and shapes, votive inscriptions, building foundations, and access steps. Everything was carved in the granitic rocks outcrop.

Today, only three inscriptions remain in Latin and one in Greek. They contain the instructions of the rituals celebrated, the identification of the gods, and who dedicated the site, Gaius C. Calpurnius Rufinus, a member of the senatorial order.

From the inscriptions, researchers learned that animals were sacrificed at the site, their blood was collected in a bowl, and their entrails were then burned in a sacred rite performed by priests

Places

Discover your next amazing Atlas Place.

Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter.

Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Know Before You Go

The sanctuary is located in the village of Assento, near Constantim, Vila Real. There is a small center with an exhibition and explanations about the site.

Community Contributors

H hpvr profile photo

Added By

hpvr

Published

October 25, 2021

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt/pt/patrimonio/patrimonio-imovel/pesquisa-do-patrimonio/classificado-ou-em-vias-de-classificacao/geral/view/70273/
  • https://arqueologia.patrimoniocultural.pt/index.php?sid=sitios&subsid=47535
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoias_Sanctuary

Related Tags

Temples History & Culture Archaeology
Santuário Rupestre de Panóias (Panoias Sanctuary)
Vale de Nogueiras, 5000-751
Portugal
41.282926, -7.682238
Visit Website

Nearby Places

Lazarim Carnival Celebrations

Lazarim, Portugal

miles away

Castle of Numão

Numão, Portugal

miles away

Stone House

Moreira do Rei, Portugal

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Portugal

Portugal

Europe

Places 179
Stories 14

Nearby Places

Lazarim Carnival Celebrations

Lazarim, Portugal

miles away

Castle of Numão

Numão, Portugal

miles away

Stone House

Moreira do Rei, Portugal

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Portugal

Portugal

Europe

Places 179
Stories 14

Related Places

  • The city pillar

    Vientiane, Laos

    Hor Lak Muang

    The site of an ancient city pillar that was lost and rediscovered.

  • My Son Santuary temple

    Duy Xuyên District, Vietnam

    My Son Sanctuary

    Showcasing some of the best-preserved temples of the Champa Kingdom.

  • Sapindya Mahadev Temple

    Pune, India

    Sapindya Mahadev Temple

    An ancient temple of Lord Shiva was rediscovered in an excavation in 2003.

  • A massive seated Buddha is carved into a rock face.

    Tianshui, China

    Bingling Temple

    A hidden Buddhist gem accessible only by boat.

  • Templo de Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Temple of Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl

    Underneath the historic center of Mexico City, the remains of a temple dedicated to the Aztec god of the wind.

  • Barbar Temple

    Barbar, Bahrain

    Barbar Temple

    This archaeological site boasts temple ruins that date back 5,000 years to the Dilmun culture, and may have been described in the tale of Gilgamesh's search for immortality.

  • Bateshwar Temple Complex

    Morena, India

    Bateshwar Temple Complex

    This wonderland of ancient temples has been recently painstakingly reconstructed.

  • Temple to Antenociticus

    Newcastle upon Tyne, England

    Benwell Roman Temple

    This Roman archeological site is hidden amid a 1930s housing estate.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2026 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.