Santo Tirso is a civic parish and municipality in the Porto District. Situated in the Ave River Valley, this municipality is an important international center for the textile industry in northern Portugal. The closest airport to this city is the Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport which is located in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto. Santo Tirso is also noted for hosting this regions most popular religious festival, which is held every year here and is dedicated to St Benedict.
The former monastery of São Bento is the most prominent landmark here. Converted into an agricultural college, it now also houses the Abade Pedrosa Museum which has many local architectural findings. Other important landmarks around the town are the spa of Caldas da Saúde, the Romanesque church of Roriz, dating back to the 8th century, and the Citânia de Sanfins de Ferreira, which is an old pre-Roman settlement.