Serra da Peneda, Senhora da Peneda

Sanctuary of Senhora da Peneda
An enormous crag (the Meadinhas rock) dominates the site with its 300 metres of sheer height. In the pure air of the altitude, the Santuário de Peneda gives a holy feel to the mountain, creating a religious atmosphere.

Every year, in the first week of September, several hundred pilgrims from all over the region and from neighbouring Galicia flock to this place of pilgrimage. The dedication to Nossa Senhora das Neves (Our Lady of the Snows) originates from the Middle Ages, spreading the legend of her apparition at this site, where a small chapel has been built. The present Sanctuary, built in the nineteenth century, is topped by a church with a monumental flight of steps. At the front, there is a series of terraces and steps, lined on both sides by twenty little chapels comprising episodes in the life of Jesus, that go down the valley and finish in a square with an image of the Angel Gabriel on top of a column and a portico with a sculpture at the top representing Nossa Senhora da Encarnação.

Source: www.visitportugal.com/en/NR/exeres/C541CE73-8AEE-4FF8-9590-AD53D1EA44F9

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