Nazaré, Portugal

The name Nazaré is the Portuguese version Nazareth, the biblical city in the Holy Land.

Miracle of Our Lady of Nazaré

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré in Portugal.

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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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.

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 3 civil parishes (freguesias):[6]

• Famalicão
• Nazaré
• Valado dos Frades

Panoramic view of the village

Nazaré has become a popular tourist attraction, advertising itself internationally as a picturesque seaside village.

Located on the Atlantic coast, it has long sandy beaches (considered by some to be among the best beaches in Portugal), with many tourists in the summer. The town used to be known for its traditional costumes worn by the fishermen and their wives who wore a traditional headscarf and embroidered aprons over seven flannel skirts in different colours. These dresses can still occasionally be seen.

A woman from Nazaré wearing the traditional seven coloured flannel skirts.

It is quite visited due to the religious festivals dedicated to Our Lady of Nazaré, in which there are processions and also some profane celebrations.

Many of the tourists and also the Catholic pilgrims who visit the region of Central Portugal and especially the internationally famous Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (located nearby, in Cova da Iria, Fátima) often go to the fishing village of Nazaré for a visit or to watch the surfing championships.

• Doctor Joaquim Manso Folk and Archeological Museum
• Sacred Art Museum of Reitor Luís Nesi
• Fisherman House-Museum
• Nazaré Bullring
• Nazaré Cultural Centre[7]

Tow-in surfing near the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo lighthouse

Giant breaking waves in Praia do Norte

The Praia do Norte (North Beach) was listed on the Guinness World Records for the biggest waves ever surfed (formed under the influence of the Nazaré Canyon)

Nazaré is a very popular surfing destination because of its very high breaking waves that form due to the presence of the underwater Nazaré Canyon.[8] As the canyon creates constructive interference between the incoming swell waves, it makes their heights much larger on this stretch of coast.

Due to the height of the waves, numerous surfing records have been set at Nazaré. In November 2011, surfer Garrett McNamara, who resided in Hawaii at that time, surfed a then record-breaking giant wave: 23.8 m (78 ft) from trough to crest, at Praia do Norte, Nazaré.[9] On November 8, 2017, Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa broke the previous record by surfing a big wave of 24.4 m (80 ft); for this feat he won the Quiksilver XXL Biggest Wave prize and entered the Guinness World Record for the biggest wave ever surfed.[10][11]

Popular viewing points for surfing competitions have witnessed a great spike in visitors, such as the lighthouse (the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo), which increased from 80,000 visitors in 2015 to 174,000 in 2017.[12]

Nazaré is twinned with:

• Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain
• Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, France
• Capbreton, Landes, France

• Legend of Nazaré
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré
• Nazaré Canyon
• Nazaré Funicular
• Praia do Norte (Nazaré)
• Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nazaré.

• Municipality official website