Nazaré

Nazaré is a popular seaside resorts in the Costa de Prata.

The town consists of three neighbourhoods: Praia (seen here, along the beach), Sítio and Pederneira two old villages on top of a cliff. Praia and Sítio are linked by the Nazaré Funicular.

The earliest settlement was in Sítio, above the beach. This provided the inhabitants with refuge against raids by Viking and, later pirates, that lasted until as late as the beginning of the 19th century. Only in the 19th century, with the end of piracy, it was possible to start occupying the Praia which is today considered the town center.

According to the Legend of Nazaré, the town derives its name from a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, brought from Nazareth, Holy Land, to a monastery Mérida, Spain, by a monk in the 4th century. The statue was brought to its current location in 711 by another monk, Romano, accompanied by Roderic, the last Visigoth king of Portugal. After their arrival at the seaside they decided to become hermits. Romano lived and died in a small natural grotto, on top of a cliff . After his death the king buried him in the grotto. Roderic left the statue of the Black Madonna in the grotto on an altar.

Sitio seen from the beach in Praia.