page_title: Nazaré, Portugal
section_title: History and legend
hierarchical_section_title: Nazaré, Portugal / History and legend
caption_attribution_description: Portugal en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazar%C3%A9_(Portugal)#legend-d-fuas The first church in O Sítio, was built over the grotto to commemorate a miraculous intervention (1182) by the Virgin Mary in saving the life of the 12th century Portuguese knight Dom Fuas Roupinho, possibly a templar, while he was hunting deer one foggy early morning. In memory of the miracle he had a chapel (Capela da Memória) built over the small grotto, where the miraculous statue had been left (c.715) by king Roderic after the monk's death. Beside the chapel, on a protuberant rock 110 meters above the Atlantic, one can still see the mark made in the rock by one of the hooves of Dom Fuas horse.
context_page_description: Nazaré is a municipality in Oeste region and Leiria District, in historical Estremadura province of Portugal.
  It is one of the most popular seaside resorts in the Silver Coast. The population in 2011 was 15,158, in an area of 82.43 km². The present mayor is Walter Chicharro, elected by the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is September 8 with the Feasts of Nazaré, a religious and profane festival with processions, bullfights, fireworks, folk dancing and a fair.
  The town consists of three neighbourhoods: Praia, Sítio and Pederneira. Praia and Sítio are linked by the Nazaré Funicular, a funicular railway.
context_section_description: The earliest settlements were in Pederneira and in Sítio, above the beach. They provided the inhabitants with refuge against raids by Viking, later French, English and Dutch pirates, that lasted until as late as the beginning of the 19th century. In fact, only in the 19th century, with the gradual end of maritime piracy, was possible for the people 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 small wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, brought by a monk in the 4th century from Nazareth, Holy Land, to a monastery near the city of Mérida, Spain. The statue was brought to its current place in 711 by another monk, Romano, accompanied by Roderic, the last Visigoth king of today's Portugal. After their arrival at the seaside they decided to become hermits. The monk lived and died in a small natural grotto, on top of a cliff above the sea. After his death and according to the monk's wishes, the king buried him in the grotto. Roderic left the statue of the Black Madonna in the grotto on an altar.
  The first church in Sítio was built over the grotto to commemorate a miraculous intervention in 1182 by the Blessed Virgin Mary, which saved the life of the 12th-century Portuguese knight Dom Fuas Roupinho (possibly a templar) while he was hunting deer one morning in a dense fog. This episode is usually referred to as the Legend of Nazaré. In memory of the miracle he had a chapel (Capela da Memória) built over the small grotto, where the miraculous statue had been left by king Roderic after the monk's death. Beside the chapel, on a rocky outcrop 110 meters above the Atlantic, one can still see the mark made in the rock by one of the hooves of Dom Fuas' horse. This Church of Nazareth, high on the rocky outcrop over Pederneira bay, was noted as a landmark in sailors' manuals.
  In 1377, King Fernando I of Portugal founded a new more spacious church which was totally transformed between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré is a rich baroque building, with splendid tiles on its interior. Behind and above the main altar visitors can see and venerate the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Nazaré. The religious figures are crowned by diadems of 18th century, presented to the church by King John VI. The sacred image is wrapped with a green cloak decorated with gold gifted to the Virgin Mary by King John V. 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.
caption: Miracle of Our Lady of Nazaré
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