Santuário de Panóias, Roman sanctuary in Constantim e Vale de Nogueiras, Portugal

Santuário de Panóias is a Roman sanctuary built around three large granite rocks carved with basins, stairs, and inscriptions. The site features rectangular cavities for burning offerings and round depressions for cooking sacrificial remains, arranged in a way that shows how ceremonies took place.

The sanctuary was built between the late 100s and early 200s, created as a place of worship for several Roman gods. The natural granite rocks already present at the location were carefully carved to serve the religious ceremonies held there.

The five inscriptions name the dedicator, Gaius Calpurnius Rufinus, a member of the senatorial order, and the deities: the Severe Gods, the gods of the Lapitae, and the Most High Serapis. One Latin text was destroyed in the 20th century and rebuilt from earlier readings. The Greek inscription stands beside a round cavity called the gastra, used to roast sacrificial meat.

The three granite rocks stand in dry, open ground at Vale de Nogueiras, a few kilometres from Vila Real. Access to the upper surfaces is by carved steps worn smooth, so wear shoes with grip and watch your footing on the terraces. The inscriptions sit at the entrance rock and on the far side of the first rock, reached after climbing the stairs.

The sanctuary's five inscriptions record that the senator Gaius Calpurnius Rufinus dedicated the site to the Severe Gods and to the Lapiteae, deities of the local indigenous community. One Latin text was destroyed in the 20th century and later reconstructed from earlier readings. A round cavity called the gastra, cut just behind the Greek inscription to Serapis, was used to roast sacrificial meat.