The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré is a Marian shrine that memorializes an ancient miracle that occurred under the intercession of the Virgin Mary. It is located on the hilltop called ''O Sítio'', overlooking Nazaré, in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and was founded in the 14th century.

Legend

According to the Legend of Nazaré the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

(''alcaide'') of

Porto de Mós Porto de Mós () is a town and a municipality of Estremadura province in Leiria District. It is in the Centro Region and the Pinhal Litoral subregion. The population in 2011 was 24,342, in an area of 261.83 km2. There were archeologic findings ...

, Dom Fuas Roupinho, maybe a

templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

, was chasing on horseback a deer up a hilltop on a misty September morning in 1182 (later it was said that it was the devil, in the disguise of a deer). When the deer jumped over the edge of the hilltop into the void, his fiery horse was about to follow. Then the knight invoked the intervention of the Madonna, who made the horse turn away through a supernatural effort and saved the knight's life. Subsequently, a chapel ''A Ermida da Memoria'', was built very near this spot, over a grotto where stood a small statue of a

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Jungian scholar, San Begg publ ...

, brought from

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. Near the chapel, one can see the horseshoe imprint in the rock.

Overview

Construction

The church was founded in the 14th century on the occasion of the arrival of King Ferdinand on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Nazaré. The King not only ordered to do works in the '' Ermida da Memoria'', but also decided to construct a new and improved place of cult, since the Hermitage did not have capacity to receive higher number of devotees of the Lady. There were done some royal modifications on the temple, as Dom João I ordered some wooden porches. Dom João II remodeled the temple plan with enlarging it and building a new main chapel.

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manue ...

replaced the wooden porches with some that remain up to the present day. The Church underwent various reformulations, especially in the main chapel. In the reign of Philip II, the portico was renovated and a new staircase was built. At the request of the Administrative Board, King Afonso VI ordered to do some renovation in Sanctuary. Changes were made in the structure of the temple, as the arch of the main chapel was enlarged and a new transept was added. The work was finished in 1691 and a Latin cross, similar to the current one was set in the church. In 1717 temple's front was renovated, and a new access to the belfry was constructed, which has two towers now. When the transept was built, the rector Father António Caria commissioned a Dutch company to add tile panels for the decoration of this new space. Before the end of 1708 Father Caria received the drawings and plans of the tiles for approval by the Administrative Board of the Royal House. In October 1709, the 6, 568 tiles by Dutch ceramist Williem Van der Klöet, with biblical episodes of Joseph and David and two scenes from Jonah's story, arrived at Sitio.

Interior design

The single nave in the shape of Latin cross is covered with a wooden painted ceiling. There is a painting on

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

at the entrance of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

on the left, illustrating the legend of the appearance of Our Lady of Nazareth to D. Fuas Roupinho. The

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

is made of gold-toned

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

with marbled and Solomonic columns of the late 17th century. There is a small window on the Throne illustrating image of

Nursing Madonna The Nursing Madonna, ''Virgo Lactans'', or Madonna Lactans, is an iconography of the Madonna and Child in which the Blessed Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus. In Italian it is called the ''Madonna del Latte'' ("Mado ...

with the Child on her lap. The figures are crowned by diadems of 18th century, presented to the church by D. João VI. The sacred image is wrapped with a green cloak decorated with gold gifted to the Virgin by D.João V. The figures are crowned by diadems of 18th century, presented to the church by D. João VI. The sacred image is wrapped with a green cloak decorated with gold gifted by King

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 ...

to the

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

. The main chapel is separated from the body of the church with an arcade made from pau-santo and a few pillars decorated with mosaic Italian marble of 19th century. The corridors of the Sacristy were covered with blue and white tiles by the Portuguese master António de Oliveira Bernardes in 1714. One of the panels illustrates the "

Assumption of the Virgin The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

", with symbols of Marian iconography. The remaining tiles in the corridors of the Sacristy were decorated by the master Manuel Borges. Semicircular steps lead to a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

portal under two square bell towers. The facade has gallery-like extensions. The profusely decorated gilded

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

shows the small statue of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré in a lit niche above the main altar, flanked by twisted columns. Above the crossing of the single

with the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

is a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

and a

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

. They are all vaulted by a gilt coffer ceiling.

Religious festival

On 8 September of each year a ''

romaria Romaria is a Brazilian municipality located in the northwest of the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2020 was 3,520 people living in a total area of 402 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Para ...

'' (religious festival) draws many tourists and pilgrims with the processions, bullfights and folk dancing.

Gallery

Image:Nazare May 2008-4.jpg, Detail Image:Nazaré03.jpg, Apse Image:Nazaré06.jpg, ''Azulejos'' by Willem van der Kloet in the transept

References

*The Rough Guide to Portugal – March 2005, 11th edition- *Rentes de Carvalho J. – Portugal, um guia para amigos (in Dutch Translation Portugal; De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, 1989; 9th edition, 1999 –

External links

Patrimonio Cultural
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church of Nossa Senhora Da Nazare Churches in Leiria District Buildings and structures in Nazaré, Portugal Buildings and structures with azulejos in Portugal Roman Catholic shrines in Portugal Oeste e Vale do Tejo