PORTUGAL GUIDE Caminhos De Santiago Alentejo E Ribatejo
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PORTUGAL GUIDE Caminhos de Santiago Alentejo e Ribatejo Central Eastern Way Way Alentejo e Ribatejo www.caminhosdesantiagoalentejoribatejo.pt www.visitalentejo.pt | www.visitribatejo.pt | www.visitportugal.com TECHNICAL FILE © Entidade Regional de Turismo do Alentejo e Ribatejo, 2019 Texts: Guess What – Comunicação Lda., Paulo Almeida Fernandes, Paulo Cavaleiro Proofreading: Mariana Vaz-Freire Photography: Miguel Proença, Paulo Cavaleiro Technical Consultancy: Upstream – Valorização do Território, Lda. Edition, graphic conception and pagination: Guess What – Comunicação Lda., Paulo Medeiros Printing and finishing: Ondagrafe – Artes Gráficas, Lda. Circulation: 2.500 copies All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, etc.) without the prior written permission of Entidade Regional de Turismo do Alentejo e Ribatejo. www.visitalentejo.pt | www.visitribatejo.pt | www.visitportugal.com www.caminhosdesantiagoalentejoribatejo.pt António Ceia da Silva | President of the Regional Tourism Board of Alentejo and Ribatejo When we embarked on defining with our kin that, more than a the itineraries for the Caminhos pilgrimage, is an unforgettable de Santiago Alentejo e Ribatejo, milestone in our lives. we believed that rather than just developing a product, we were You are warmly invited to join creating a brand with heart and us on this journey through the soul that embraces an entire Caminhos de Santiago Alentejo region. e Ribatejo! I myself have already made the In esteemed Pilgrim friendship. journey to Santiago de Com- Ceia da Silva postela on foot, a unique, larger than life experience that belongs to the collective imagination, an inter generational bonding 3 Index The Order of Santiago 6 Alentejo and Ribatejo 10 Caminhos de Santiago − Alentejo e Ribatejo 12 Before leaving 24 Central Way 29 Stage 1 − Ameixial (Algarve) > Santa Cruz 31 Stage 2 − Santa Cruz > Almodôvar 35 Stage 3 − Almodôvar > Castro Verde 39 Stage 4 − Castro Verde > Messejana 43 Stage 5 − Messejana > Fornalhas Velhas 47 Stage 6 − Fornalhas Velhas > São Domingos 51 Stage 7 − São Domingos > Santiago do Cacém 55 Stage 8 − Santiago do Cacém > Roncão 59 Stage 9 − Roncão > Grândola 63 Stage 10 − Grândola > Alcácer do Sal 67 Stage 11 − Alcácer do Sal > Casebres 71 Stage 12 − Casebres > Vendas Novas 75 Stage 13 − Vendas Novas > Branca 79 Stage 14 − Branca > Santo Estêvão 83 Stage 15 − Santo Estêvão > Samora Correia > Benavente 87 Stage 16 − Benavente > Muge 91 Stage 17 − Muge > Santarém 95 Stage 18 − Santarém > Golegã 99 Stage 19 − Golegã > Tomar (Center) 103 Central Way − via Tagus 107 Stage 1 − Vila Franca de Xira (Lisboa) > Azambuja 109 Stage 2 − Azambuja > Santarém 113 Eastern Way 117 Stage 1 − Alcoutim (Algarve) > Mesquita 119 Stage 2 − Mesquita > Mértola 123 Stage 3 − Mértola > Amendoeira da Serra 127 Stage 4 − Amendoeira da Serra > Cabeça Gorda 131 Stage 5 − Cabeça Gorda > Beja 135 Stage 6 − Beja > Cuba 139 Stage 7 − Cuba > Alvito > Viana do Alentejo 143 Stage 8 − Viana do Alentejo > Évora 147 Stage 9 − Évora > São Miguel de Machede 151 Stage 10 − São Miguel de Machede > Evoramonte 155 Stage 11 − Evoramonte > Estremoz 159 Stage 12 − Estremoz > Sousel 163 Stage 13 − Sousel > Fronteira 167 Stage 14 − Fronteira > Cabeço de Vide 171 Stage 15 − Cabeço de Vide > Alter do Chão 175 Stage 16 − Alter do Chão > Crato 179 Stage 17 − Crato > Alpalhão 183 Stage 18 − Alpalhão > Nisa 187 Stage 19 − Nisa > Vila Velha de Ródão (Center) 191 Santiago Fighting the Moors, main church | Santiago do Cacém The Order of Santiago conquered Western European kingdoms The Order much of the present Tagus across the Iberian Peninsula. In river’s southern Portuguese the kingdom of Portugal, the of Santiago territory, and was essential in the Orders of the Templars and settlement and socioeconomic Hospitaller Knightswere already planning of Alentejo and active, to whom the kings D. Algarve’s swaths during the Afonso Henriques and D. Sancho Middle Ages. I had entrusted the defence of important areas of the country's The origins of a peninsular center. The Order of Santiago was military religious order the last to be established, but The Order was born of the quickly supplanted the others in crusading fervour that gripped the scale, dynamism and relevance. medieval imagination, buoyed by The Order wasn’t founded with the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 that name. It originated among and other successful campaigns the friars of Cáceres, consisting in the Holy Land. In the 12th of thirteen warrior-priests who century, Muslim strongholds came together in the second half were also being conquered by of the 12th century whom King 6 | The Order of Santiago Sacred Art Museum | Grândola Santiago church | Alcácer do Sal Fernando II of Leon recognised as The Order of Santiago third time from 1482 onwards, a militia in 1170. Some time after, in Portugal a moment when ‘land-taking’ probably in common accord with In Portugal, the oldest documents was a thing of the past and a the archbishop of Santiago de on the Order of Santiago date closer proximity to the court was Compostela, or because Santiago back to 1172, the year in which it advisable. (Saint James) the Apostle was the inherited the territory of Arruda The military influence of the Kingdom of Spain’s patron, the dos Vinhos from King D. Afonso Spatharii dominated the first half friars then adopted the name Henriques. In a short space of of the 13th century. After having Order of Santiago. The uniquely time, it went south of the Tagus conquered the important port of peninsular scope of the Order river to actively participate in the Alcácer do Sal (the main shore was evident in its statutes: to kingdom’s war efforts. The Order base for the Muslim fleet), the protect not only the southern settled in the castle of Palmela in Order of Santiago was entrusted borders of the Iberian Peninsula’s 1186, but the Islamic reconquest with conquering practically Christian kingdoms, but also the of 1191 interrupted the the entire south of what today pilgrims who came to Santiago de construction of a convent there. is mainland Portugal, under Compostela cathedral to worship The town once again became the command of future Grand the apostle’s tomb. Its seat was the Portuguese Santiagan capital Master D. Paio Peres Correia. established in Uclès (Cuenca) until Alcácer do Sal was finally In just two decades, the Order from 1174 onwards. conquered in 1217, and for a of Santiago became the most The Order of Santiago | 7 Azulejo tiles panel – main church of Samora Correia | Benavente powerful landowner of the de Mascarenhas is best-known. of war and religion, works of kingdom, holding sway over a In the first half half of the 16th art sponsored by high-ranking territory so vast it extended from century, he was patron for noblemen of the Spatharios Samora Correia to Tavira, and the construction of a grand hierarchy, structural traces on from Almada to Aljezur. altarpiece for the main church local toponyms or simple and To provide support for its (originally the mosque) which discreet landmarks in properties. manoeuvres in the south, the celebrated the life and legend of Given the military nature of the Order’s seat moved to Alcácer the Apostle Santiago. campaigns in the Alentejo and do Sal and then Mértola. The In the south of the country, Algarve, many artistic commis- true capital was Alcácer do Sal, the vast quantity of churches sions portrayed Santiago as a where the Spatharii built a grand dedicated to Santiago came Christian warrior on horseback, convent, known in medieval about thanks to the conquests showing no mercy to a huddle literature as the ‘meysom d and administration of the Order of terrified foes, which became alcaçar’, next to the castle and of Santiago, which also left many known as the religious iconog- mother church. In Mértola, further traces such as palaces of raphy of Santiago Matamouros where the Portuguese ancillary’s its former Commanders, castles (Saint James the Moor-slayer). In seat was established between preserving the memory of the truth, the Order never imposed 1248 and 1482, the architectural knights who conquered them, a single form of representation legacy of commander D. João the tombs of celebrated men and Santiago continued to fre- 8 | The Ordem of Santiago Keep of Beja Castle quently be represented as a pil- sic constituent of the adminis- The cross of the Order grim and apostle, with the south trative land management of the of Santiago of the country revealing the Order of Santiago, headed by a The cross used by the friars of most complete narratives on its main castle. For the same rea- Santiago is red and has two life in azulejo (tile) panel. son, the commanders were also sidebars in the shape of fleur- the alcaldes of these fortresses. de-lys, while the vertical tail Management and integra- The Order of Santiago in Portugal resembles a sword. The banner tion into the crown’s estate was runned by the grand master was white and, besides the The Order was presided over by of Uclès until 1452, the year in cross, it depicted scallop shells, a grand master, elected by 13 which the Portuguese ancillary the emblematic symbol of the knights, in memory of the 12th gained autonomy from its Castil- Jacobean pilgrims. century founding members. ian counterpart. During the reign Religious discipline was upheld of the King D. João III, from 1551 by a superior religious officer(pri- onwards, the Order was integrat- or-mor), while the management ed into the crown’s estate and of the commendations was the was subsequently managed by responsibility of a chief knight the Portuguese monarchy. commander (comendador-mor). The commendation was the ba- The Order of Santiago | 9 View over the Tagus from Portas do Sol | Santarém The Caminhos de Santiago where the sun’s golden glow blurs Alentejo Alentejo e Ribatejo cross two with the endless plains, dappled very distinct territories: different with battlements of whitewashed and in their customs and traditions, dwellings.