Our pilgrimage to Fatima and Tomar - the former HQ of the Knights Templar

Leaving Obidos the rain started and was stop/start all the way to Fatima.  Fatima is the fountainhead of religious devotion in Portugal and one of the Catholic Church’s most popular shrines.  We are not religious people and weren’t planning on coming here, but as the road we were travelling on went pretty much passed it, we were interested to see the basilica.

The place has grown up over the years, built entirely on its faith, and millions descend on the place for an annual pilgrimage for couple of days in May and October, most making the journey on foot.  The basilica is massive and has a gigantic esplanade – twice the size of St Peter’s in Rome.

A mass was taking place in the tiny chapel outside and everyone was crowded around with their brollies up and then it was a mass exodus!

Nearly everyone buys candles here by the handful to light and place in an altar. Given the size of some of them I am surprised it didn’t start a fire! 

Walking around the town, nearly every shop sells tacky religious souvenirs

An hour here was long enough for us and that included having lunch as well!

Leaving Fatima, it was a short road trip to Tomar, where we parked up on a campsite for FREE! (N39.60746 W8.40995).

Enjoying a barbeque of sardines, fresh from the local market

It’s a former municipal campsite that closed down a couple of years ago.  We read it had something to do with not being able to renew its license; however, the town have kept it open as an Aire for motorhomers to be able to visit the town.  There is a security guard on day and night, the toilets and showers (only cold water) are cleaned daily, bins emptied daily, fresh water taps throughout the campsite and usual facilities for dumping your waste.  The grass is cut and there are plenty of trees for shade, so for free what’s not to like.  A lot of other motorhomers must agree as there have been a lot of all nationalities come and go over the 3 days/nights we spent here.  Not sure how many it can take but at one time Mel counted 40 motorhomes.  We were parked up near to another Brit couple (Cath and Graham from Stoke).  A friendly couple, who had been motorhomers for years and so Graham and Mel had a lot to talk about!

The small town is split in two by the Rio Nabão with the stunning Convento de Cristo, dominating the skyline of Tomar.  Founded in 1160, it was once the headquarters of The Order of the Knights Templar, and when they disbanded in 1319 it was taken over by their successors The Order of Christ.  All we knew about the Knights Templar was from our watching of The Da Vinci Code many years ago, and even that’s vague and mostly fictional!

Tomar and Convento de Cristo on the hill

A short uphill walk up a cobbled path takes you through the castle walls and into the convent.  Over the years the convent expanded, with conventional buildings added for the monks.  With the change of kings came the change in architecture - Romanesque, Manueline and Renaissance.

In brief, a little bit of research tells us that the Templars were a bunch of military monks, founded in 1122AD to protect pilgrims along their path to Jerusalem.  They came to Porugal in the 12^th century at the request of Portugal’s King, their main objective was to expel the Moors from Spain and Portugal. After their reconquest/crusade, the Templars reaped their rewards as vast amounts of land was handed over to them.  They paid no taxes, roamed freely between borders and became rich and powerful.  As such, they became a threat to the authority of the European monarchs.  The King of France started the witch-hunt by confiscating all Templar property in France, with a bit of torturing thrown in for good measure.  Spain followed suit along with other countries and Portugal became the only safe refuge for them, so, they flocked here to Tomar.  In 1319 they were disbanded and in 1357 they changed their name to the Order of Christ.

The impressive 12th century circular temple where the Templars supposedly attended mass on horseback. Patterned on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  

In the centre stands the high altar, surrounded by a 2-storey octagon

Chapter House and intricate Manueline window (the style named after King Manuel I), said to symbolise The Tree of Life, it is a mass of maritime motifs.

Mel ‘holding court’ in the pulpit in the refectory, with its ornate cherub detail

One of the 7 cloisters

Walking the castle walls

The whitewashed gridded streets all converge on Praça da República, with the church of São João Baptista and statue of Gualdim Pais (first and grandest Master of the Knights Templar).

Arab Waterwheel by the river

From the back of the castle you glimpse the end of the viaduct, built to provide water for the convent.

We walked a couple of kilometres and got a great view of the structure, which stretches for about 4 miles - a brilliant bit of engineering.

Mel doing his balancing act on the aqueduct

Bella Vista restaurant on the river, where we celebrated my birthday - a beautiful 'silver service' meal

About an hour before we were due to go out for my birthday meal the heavens opened, along with thunder and lightening; about 9 inches of rain fell in the space of about 30 minutes.  Poor old Sonny, the motorhome nearly drowned and we had to move off the plot we were on.  

When it rains it rains! Our original plot in between the posts - now flooded!

Luckily it eased up and we managed to venture out for a lovely meal at Bella Vista.  
The next day we visited a Matchbox Museum.  It is housed in an old convent, with a collection of 40,000 matchboxes of all shapes and sizes and from umpteen countries. A bit of a weird collection to have in a museum, but it was free, so we thought why not.

The English Collection

On Sunday there was a festival taking place in the town a mix of religion and culture.  It was a real family day with lots of singing, dancing, music, and parades in traditional costumes.

I asked a local women what it was about and she apologised that her English was bad but tried to explain that it was a religious and agricultural celebration dating back to the 1950’s.

It starts from the main square outside the church of São João Baptista and they parade through the town and down to the river, where they hold a religious ceremony and then more singing and partying!

Stalls selling traditional products

Picnics in the square

Women carrying baskets of flowers and bread on their heads

 

We have had 4 lovely days here and are reluctant to move on, but more of Portugal is calling us!

Sally x

Portugal’s Claims! Cabo Carvoeiro - westernmost point and Obidos - prettiest village

Leaving Mafra we continued along the minor roads of Portugal towards Peniche (N9-2, N8-2, N247) or the ‘roads less travelled’ as we now like to refer to them, through pretty countryside and then along the coastal road.  Shortly after leaving Mafra, we stumbled across this little windmill in a field.  Apparently, there are 7 similar ones in the area, built in the second half of the 17^th century.

17th century windmill, near Mafra

Before getting to Peniche, we stocked up with food at the Intermarché, filled up with fuel, did a big wash and dry and serviced Sonny (the motorhome) at the free services provided by the supermarket – thank you Intermarché Portugal.  We love these ‘one stop does all’ Intermarché supermarkets and have used them a few times in Portugal now.

Peniche sits at the end of a peninsula, enclosed by ramparts and is mainland Portugal’s westernmost point and major fishing port.  It is a popular beach destination, and very popular with surfers.  The town was once an island but the area has silted up and is now joined to the mainland by a narrow strip.   A couple of kilometres passed the town is the tip of Cabo Carvoeiro, as far west as you can go.  We parked up at the edge of the rugged peninsula, next to the lighthouse (N39.36000 W9.40827) - wow, what a view!

Home is where you park it!

We had a great view across to the Ilha da Berlenga.  The only people allowed to live on the small island are handful of fishermen who act as guardians, as it has been declared a nature reserve with its colony of puffins and various other sea birds.

You can arrange for a boat to take you across (about 10kms) but the sea looked pretty choppy and we didn’t fancy it!   This area was a shipwreck blackspot and a lighthouse has been here since 1790.  It continues to be in used - its beacon was going in the evening when we were there.

There is something majestic about this place, with its 25-metre high cliffs that have strange karst formations on the top.

You can walk down quite a way to the sea and around the rocks – no safety barriers just a warning that you could get wet!

The Atlantic ocean smashes against the rocky shore.

Setting off from Cabo Carvoeiro, we passed some more amazing rock formations on the peninsula. Here, there were some wooden bridges to help you get across to the end.

It was quite overgrown in places, and apparently a natural habitat for some snakes!

Looking across to Peniche and Cabo Carvoeiro on the far right

Okay, I won't bore you with any more rocks, although they were stunning and the photos don't do them justice!

Leaving Peniche we headed to Obidos and parked up on an Aire that sits next to the 16th century aqueduct, that used to transport water to Obidos.  (N39.35622 W9.15661).  It has all the facilities and an honesty box asking that you pay €2 if you use them and €6 if you stop overnight.

 

The aqueduct (fully intact), with the Aire just the other side of the road right of the car park

Obidos is an enchanting little village totally fortified by walls built in the 13^th and 14^th century, with its cobbled streets and alleyways and whitewashed houses tinged with blue.

Porta da Vila is the main gate into Obidos and contains a beautiful tiled chapel. The blue and white 18th century glazed tiles, called Azulejo, depict the passion of Christ while the ceiling represents the crown of thorns.

Porta da Vila

Bit of Street Theatre as you enter Obidos

The main street where every shop is a souvenir shop or one selling the local drink - Ginja de Obidos, a sweet cherry liquor produced in the region.

Walking up to get onto the ramparts

Walking along the walls, a hair-raising walkway with no handrails and sheer drops in places – a nightmare for me with my fear of heights, but the views are stunning!

The sheer drops of the walls - no health and safety in this country!

The steep cobbled alleyways

You know that you are in a touristy place when it costs €7.50 for a pint and a glass of fresh orange – ouch!

We move on from here tomorrow, further north to Tomar.  Unfortunately, the forecast for the next few days isn’t looking good for us.  We have enjoyed some hot weather since coming into Portugal so we can't complain and a bit of rain to cool us down is no bad thing - well just for one day anyway!

Sally x

Walking in the footsteps of royalty in Mafra and Ericeira

We have now spent 3 days here on this Aire in the pretty little town of Mafra.  And a quick update, following on from my last blog we now have electric!  It’s survival of the fittest on this Aire, as one motorhome moves on there is a race to move out of the car park opposite the Aire into the dedicated spots.  We were lucky to nab a spot early Sunday morning.

Sonny, the motorhome on full charge for free at Mafra!

The little town of Mafra is totally dominated by just one building - the vast monastery/ palace, which King João V (the wealthiest and most extravagant of all Portuguese monarchs) had built.  Work begun in 1717 and was initially intended for just 13 Franciscan Friars.  But as his wealth increased with gold that poured into the coffers from Brazil, João V and his architect increased their plans to include a massive basilica, two royal wings ad monastery to house 300 monks.  Build Symmetrically, the work took 13 years to complete and is an impressive piece of Italian Baroque architecture.

A couple of Brits had told us that when you get your ticket if you say you are ‘seniors’ you can get in for half price and you don’t have to show any ID.  Now, I don’t mind lying to say I am younger but to say I am 65 - 9 years older than I am, I don’t feel happy about!  Mel, however had no problem asking for 2 seniors tickets and we both got in for half price - he clearly looked older than his age of 60 years!  On Sunday’s Portuguese residents get free access into the palace, so I didn’t feel that bad about getting in for half price!

It took us nearly 2 hours to walk around the royal quarters, parts of the monastery (parts of which are now used by the military, so are restricted) and basilica.  It covers a area of 4 hectares, with 1,260 rooms, 5,200 doorways, 2,500 windows and 2 immense bell towers each containing over 50 bells.

Monastery Infirmary

Music Room

The most shocking room was the ‘trophy room’ with its furniture (and even its chandeliers) constructed out of antlers and upholstered in deerskin.

The most magnificent room for us was the Rococo library, with its tiled marble floor.  The wooden book shelves house around 36,000 leather-bound volumes of books covering medicine, history, geography, philosophy, theology, Law, mathematics and literature, from 14th -19th century.  The area is cordoned off to protect the books – some very rare editions and apparently kept free of insect infestation by a colony of tiny bats that live in the eaves.

Nearly all the rooms are reconstructed, as João V had to flee to Brazil when the French advanced and he took nearly all of the furniture and valuables with him.

Basilica 

The next day, we took a scooter ride 8kms to Ericeira.  A pretty village perched 30 metres above a sandy beach and the whole town is virtually pedestrianised. It’s a favourite beach retreat for locals and windsurfers and was the final refuge of Portugal's last monarch, Dom Manuel II.

The sea was certainly crashing against those rocks today  this fisherman must have got a good soaking!

Typical pedestrionised street of Ericeira

The little chapel of Sant Antonio (patron saint of Portuguese fishermen)

A great mural down near the beach

The threat of French invasions under Napoleon into Portugal at the start of the 19^th century led to the engineering of the Lines of Torres Vedras, a fortified circuit that protected Lisbon from the Bonaparte’s troops.  152 military structures were designed on the boundary of Lisbon and Mafra was one of the main links.

Along the road from Mafra to Ericeira is one such fortress – Zambujal Fort, with its protective moat, connected by a tunnel and manned by 250 men, which we stumbled across.

A great view across the countryside and the road we travelled from Ericeira

The plan is to move on tomorrow to Peniche - Portugal’s westernmost point.  But, tomorrow is another day and plans in our little motorhome can easily change!

Sally x