To lay our eyes on Nazaré from its cliff is something we could do every weekend – that’s how much we love the city….plus, the amazing fresh fish and seafood dishes on every restaurant’s menu. 🙂
Nazaré is situated on the coastline and center of Portugal, and about 1h away from the capital, Lisbon. Nowadays it is a place for tourism and beach vacations, but it still maintains its historical background as a fishermen village and pilgrimage place.
Until the 50’s and 60’s when most of the people emigrated, Nazaré had fishery as its main economical strength. Later on, the people who stayed, started seeing in tourism their way out of poverty. However there are still families living from fishery. The men go out to the sea to fish and their wives sell the fish at the coastline. This tradition is still present by the seawall with women drying the fish (an ancient method) and then selling it.
Women here also wear a very typical garment, 7 skirts. Some say it’s related to the 7 waves of the sea, others say it’s about the 7 days of the week, the 7 virtues, or even the 7 colours of the rainbow. Eventually, however one thing is for sure, it is profoundly connected to the sea. It is said that when their men went to the sea, the wives usually stayed on the beach waiting for them day and night, and the skirts would warm them during the night. They would also serve as superstition, knowing that in a stormy sea after every 7 waves the sea calms down a bit and that would be the timing for the boat to moor safely. The 7 skirts would help them count the waves, knowing that they were returning safely.
Nazaré is also considered to have one of the most beautiful beaches in Portugal, and that’s because of its shape and because it has a high cliff on its right hand side, which offers a wonderful panoramic view of the beach and the village.
It is here where the pilgrimage has taken place for several centuries. In the 12th century, a nobleman while hunting a deer, suddenly found himself on the edge of the cliff and screamed “Our Lady, please save me!”, and the horse stopped instantly. From that moment, people started to come to this sacred place and it had been the most important place in all country until Fátima in 1917. The sacred place is called Sítio da Nazaré and it is marked with a little chapel built in the 12th century.
The cliff ends on a beautiful cape where a fort was built and has a wonderful view to the Northern beach, which is naturally preserved and where the sea is much more rebellious.
We invite you all to visit this wonderful place and try the local cuisine which is hearty, with fish as the main dish. In Lisbon you can find lots of information in Tourist Offices about Nazaré. There are buses from Lisbon to Nazaré, many tour companies include Nazaré in their tours, or the best way would be to rent a car and take the chance of visiting other beautiful places nearby, about which we will certainly write in our future posts.
