Nazaré: a walk around the Sítio: a self-guided walk
By Alleytale
The clifftop district above Nazaré's beach, on foot
Our Lady of Nazaré runs through the Sítio: a king's pilgrimage lies behind the sanctuary, a legend about a knight lies behind the chapel, and the festivals in her honour brought a theatre, a bandstand, a bullring and a royal lodging to the hilltop.
The stops
The church on the hilltop called O Sítio was founded in the 14th century, when King Ferdinand arrived on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Nazaré. The Memory Hermitage could not hold the growing number of devotees, so he decided to build a larger place of worship. In October 1709, 6,568 tiles by the Dutch ceramist Willem van der Kloet arrived here, with biblical scenes of Joseph and David and two from the story of Jonah.
Photo: Alvesgaspar — CC BY-SA 3.0 Plays were staged here during the festivities of Our Lady of Nazaré from the mid-18th century, first on a wooden stage called the tablado das comédias, and in 1770 it was decided to build a theatre. The theatre has a horseshoe-shaped auditorium in the Italian style, with the stage arch and the ceiling painted by Frederico Aires. The gable carries a relief alluding to the dramatic arts, and the name of the actor Chaby Pinheiro is painted across the façade.
Photo: Threeohsix — CC BY-SA 4.0 The Confraria of Our Lady of Nazaré built this hospital at the end of the 19th century to support the sanctuary's festivals. The old rector's house was converted for it, and it opened in 1878, the date inscribed in the pediment of the main façade, where the national coat of arms also sits. The building is laid out around an open central courtyard, and it stands right beside the royal palace.
Photo: Threeohsix — CC BY-SA 4.0 The Duke of Cadaval, administrator of the Royal House of Our Lady of Nazaré, had this palace built in 1718 to lodge the royal family when it came for the festivities at the Sítio. In 1738 the Lisbon pilgrimage, the Círio de Lisboa, moved in after the pilgrims' inns were destroyed. Until 1830 a walkway ran from its east veranda to a bullring that was set up beside the south façade.
Photo: Threeohsix — CC BY-SA 4.0 The museum is in the former summer residence of Dr. Joaquim Manso, a writer and journalist who founded the daily newspaper Diário de Lisboa. The house was donated to the State in 1968 by Amadeu Gaudêncio, and the museum opened to the public in 1976. Inside are miniatures of traditional boats and the traditional clothing, in its working and festive forms.
Photo: Threeohsix — CC BY-SA 4.0 The present bullring was built in 1897 in neo-Arab style, after a fire in 1874 completely destroyed an earlier one. The Ministry of Public Works commissioned the architect Francisco da Silva Castro in 1891 to design a new space. It has two levels of seating, the first polygonal and the second circular, and bullfighting here has always been tied to the celebrations of Our Lady of Nazareth.
Photo: Threeohsix — CC BY-SA 4.0 According to the legend, the knight Dom Fuas Roupinho ordered this chapel built in 1182, after Our Lady of Nazaré saved him from falling off the cliff while he was following a deer on horseback. It is a four-sided chapel decorated with blue and white tiles, under a pyramidal roof. In 1370 King Ferdinand I ordered its original open arches closed because they were deteriorating.
Photo: GualdimG — CC BY-SA 4.0 The Confraria of Our Lady of Nazaré built this octagonal bandstand in 1897 to support the sanctuary's festivals, and it was inaugurated on 8 September that year. Its eight cast-iron columns, painted green, came from the Fundição Alliança foundry in Porto. Philharmonic bands played here at the festivities for decades, until the 1970s, and a marble plaque marks the centenary in 1997. The square around it is paved with wavy black and white stones.
Photo: Joseolgon — CC BY-SA 4.0
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