Located in the north of the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez, this village is one of the oldest in Alto Minho and is a pearl of nature enclosed in a valley at the gates of the Peneda Gerês National Park, very close to the source of the river Vez.
  Sistelo is an example of Man's ability to adapt to the singularities and adversities of nature, transforming it in favor of their needs and simultaneously creating a picture of rare beauty that are the terraces.
  The terraces of agricultural production are the result of human occupation that ended up shaping the landscape, giving it the peculiar characteristic that distinguishes Sistelo, naming it “Little Portuguese Tibet”. As a result of the need for survival in the past, there are now striking brushstrokes of a living picture that testify to the hard work of subsistence agriculture.
  With them are also associated the concept of community, of mutual help, of the need of a people to unite in order to survive. Community ovens, mills, granaries and a source of life that unites them, “O Rio Vez”. With it arise the levadas (irrigation channels) that cross the terraces and are a vital source for the cultivation of maize and tarrestre beans.
​
  Sistelo's cultural landscape:

• ​ National Monument; ​​

• 7 Wonders of Portugal "Rural Villages";

• World Biosphere Reserve "UNESCO".