Sistelo was originally a medieval Póvoa, from whose period traces in elements such as the implementation of the cross, the fountain or the organization of the houses seem to survive. The most outstanding architectural element is, however, much more recent. It is called “Casa do Castelo”, a rectangular revivalist palace, with two crenellated towers flanking the frontispiece and a Neo-Gothic tomb. The complex, which dominates a natural landscape of undeniable beauty, was built in the second half of the 19th century by a native of the parish who had returned from Brazil, and the first Visconde de Sistelo, Manuel A. Gonçalves Roque.