Religious destinations in the Algarve
The Algarve is many things to many people, and while many people may be aware of the region thanks to its great weather and wonderful beaches, there are quite a few Algarve visitors out there who come to the region to visit one or more of the plethora of religious destinations and sacred sites, and we’ll talk a bit about some of them.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima
This site is by far one of the most famous Marian shrines in the entire world. The main building is the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, whose construction started on the 13th of May 1928, a wonderful Neoclassical church that was later consecrated on October 7th 1953.
The central spire is a slender construction that rises sixty-five meters and the church itself is flanked by monumental colonnades which overlook a very large open plaza. The center of the plaza is dominated by the Monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was built in 1932, being situated over a spring that according to the shrine, has been ‘the instrument of many graces’.
The basilica has fifteen altars dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the rosary and it also houses the tombs of the young visionaries.
The other mains stop at Fatima is the Chapel of Apparitions, an open-air chapel built on the original site of the appearances, which is open year-round for regular services and can even be virtually visited via high-res webcam.
The Convento de Cristo in Tomar
The Convent of the Order of Christ was built in 1160 by the Knights Templar in order to defend the very volatile Muslim-Christian border at that time.
This is quite a unique monastic fortress, first of all because it is a monastic fortress and then because its construction was an on-going project for somewhere close to five centuries, which turned the initial Templar stronghold into a gallery of Portuguese architectural styles.
There are many things to see here, actually everything is interesting however we’ll just mention a couple, starting with the portal of the church which was designed about 1530 and richly decorated in the typical Manueline style.
To the left of the portal you’ll find the 16th century rectangular Manueline nave, which replaced the older Gothic nave, and a large interior arch links the Romanesque round church to the Manueline nave.
We could talk about these religious destinations in much more detail and we probably will do so in the future, but keep in mind that you can see them for yourself with the help of some Algarve car rental services.
