Óbidos: through the town gate and up to the castle: a self-guided walk

By Alleytale

A walled medieval town on foot, from the gate to a Baroque sanctuary

Óbidos was a wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Catherine stood behind the rebuilding of Santa Maria. The painter Josefa de Óbidos links two of the churches.

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The stops

1. 1Porta da Vila

   The Porta da Vila, also called the Porta de Nossa Senhora da Piedade, stands out among the four gates and two small side doors of the walls. Inside is a chapel with a balcony, covered in 18th-century azulejos. The inscription above the gate says the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin, and it was placed there by King John IV, who reigned from 1640 to 1656.

   

2. 2Igreja de São Pedro

   Saint Peter's Church has a medieval foundation, and all that survives of the original building is the remains of its Gothic portal. It was renovated in the second half of the 16th century and badly damaged by the 1755 earthquake. The painter Josefa de Óbidos, who lived from 1630 to 1684, wanted to be buried in this church.

   

3. 3Igreja de Santa Maria

   The parish church was founded between 1148 and 1185, and Afonso Henriques consecrated it after taking the town. A complete rebuilding began on 15 August 1571, the feast of the Assumption, under the protection of Queen Catherine. Inside, Josefa de Óbidos painted five works about Saint Catherine for a side altar around 1661, and the walls carry 17th- and 18th-century azulejos.

   

4. 4Castelo de Óbidos

   The castle rises 79 metres above sea level, and the walls around the town run for 1,565 metres and tower 13 metres high in places. Óbidos was given as a wedding gift to King Denis and Queen Elizabeth. In 1948 the castle became a pousada, and it is now a hotel.

   

5. 5Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Pedra

   This Baroque sanctuary stands outside the walls. The story goes that in the 1730s, during a long drought, a farmer was called by an old stone cross carved with Christ, and rain followed once people began to venerate it. The first stone of the church was laid in 1740, and it opened in 1747. It is still unfinished, and its hexagonal plan is unusual.

   

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