Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios – Our Lady of the Remedies
The church of Our Lady of the Remedies is situated on top of the Mount of Santo Estevão, and is one of the most important Baroque pilgrimage churches in Portugal. The first stone was cast in 1750, and the works took about eleven years to complete. The reason most people are brought here is to see the monumental staircase which dates from 1777, when Bishop Manuel de Vasconcelos Pereira hired the stonemason Manuel Faustino Loureiro to build it. It comprises several flights and landings, with various fountains and sculptures, amongst which is the Patio of the Kings. The staircase was not finished until much later, in the 20th century.
Now at this point I should mention that I am an atheist, or at least an agnostic, so cannot understand why some believers literally crawl up all these stairs on their knees as an act of pilgrimage, but they do even today. Yes, every September thousands of faithful visit this site, some of whom climb the 686 stairs on their knees! You can imagine the bloody state that leaves their knees in and their distressed state by the time they reach the top.
But our bus took us to the top and we walked down…on our feet.
Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios – Our Lady of the Remedies
The church of Our Lady of the Remedies is situated on top of the Mount of Santo Estevão, and is one of the most important Baroque pilgrimage churches in Portugal. The first stone was cast in 1750, and the works took about eleven years to complete. The reason most people are brought here is to see the monumental staircase which dates from 1777, when Bishop Manuel de Vasconcelos Pereira hired the stonemason Manuel Faustino Loureiro to build it. It comprises several flights and landings, with various fountains and sculptures, amongst which is the Patio of the Kings. The staircase was not finished until much later, in the 20th century.
Now at this point I should mention that I am an atheist, or at least an agnostic, so cannot understand why some believers literally crawl up all these stairs on their knees as an act of pilgrimage, but they do even today. Yes, every September thousands of faithful visit this site, some of whom climb the 686 stairs on their knees! You can imagine the bloody state that leaves their knees in and their distressed state by the time they reach the top.
But our bus took us to the top and we walked down…on our feet.