The Viana do Castelo Coastal Geopark was created in 2017, after more than a decade of work on the geological heritage of the municipality, which resulted in the identification of 13 areas classified as Natural Monuments. In this territory, which aspires to become a UNESCO world geopark, the geological heritage that shows that Portugal was part of the southern hemisphere or was bathed by an ocean that no longer exists is preserved.

The Viana do Castelo Coastal Geopark, through its exceptional inventoried geological heritage, shows the basic aspects of how the territory that is now Viana do Castelo evolved over the last 570 million years, recording in its rocks various episodes as if it were a book, outdoors. It is a territory rich in Natural and Cultural Heritage, with around 4,800 hectares specifically designated for the protection of fauna and flora habitats (3 Special Conservation Zones of the Natura 2000 Network), being the only municipality in the country with the inventory of geological heritage completed and duly classified into 13 natural monuments, making up a total area of ​​around 2,832 hectares.