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Azores Albufeira Aveiro Braga Cascais Coimbra Estoril Faro-Loulé Guimaraes Lagos Leiria Lisbon Belém Madeira Porto Nazaré Obidos Setubal Sintra Tomar Portugal City Travel Guide: Estremadura & Ribatejo:
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Eating & Drinking
Casa Lazaro
Rua Adrião Batalho
Tel: 214 483 319
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Batalha
Just 12km south of Leiria is one of Portugal's must-see destinations, the stunning abbey of Batalha (Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Vitoria).
A UNESCO world heritage site, the beautiful and ornate monastery was in construction from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries and remains a masterpiece of Gothic and Manueline art.
The monastery and town were built to commemorate the defeat of the invading Spanish in 1385 lead by Juan I of Castile by Joao d'Avis and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, in a bloody battle fought near the town. The king, his English wife Philippa of Lancaster, and a number of Joao's sons including Henry the Navigator are buried in Batalha monastery. The Royal Cloisters (Claustro Real) are considered a masterpiece of Manueline architecture.
The abbey is open from 9am-6.30pm and is free to enter with a small charge to visit the cloisters.
Getting to Batalha
Bus Travel in Portugal
There are six buses daily to nearby Leiria and from there to Lisbon and a service to Caldas da Rainha.
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Fátima
Second only to Lourdes as Europe's major pilgrimage center, the small town of Fátima with around 8,000 inhabitants, 123km north of Lisbon, welcomes millions of devotees a year who come to pray at the site of a miraculous apparation of the Virgin Mary here in 1917.
Three shepherd children had a vision of Mary, who supposedly reappeared on the 13th of each of six subsequent months calling for peace in the world.
On the day of the final apparition a crowd of over 70,000 people had gathered and claimed to witness the Miracle of the Sun, when illnesses and disabilities were cured among the onlookers. One of the children Lucia is said to have received "Three Secrets" from the Virgin.
A vast white Basilica and esplanade were completed in 1953 as a shrine for the ever growing numbers of pilgrims flocking to the town. The courtyard outside the basilica is double the size of the square in front of St. Peter's in Rome.
Fátima remains a strange mix of devotion and commercialism with shops selling a mind-boggling array of religious souvenirs to visitors.
Fátima Tourist Office
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Avenida Dom José Alves Correia da Silva
Tel. 249 531 139
10am-1pm 3pm-7pm May-October. Closing at 6pm at other times.
Getting to Fátima
Train Travel in Portugal
Fátima is on the main Lisbon-Porto line but the station is 25km by bus from the centre.
Bus Travel in Portugal
There are frequent buses to Leiria and Tomar.
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Tomar
Latter-day El Cids, and anyone else drawn by stirring tales of Medieval daring and chivalry, would be well advised to head for Tomar - the spiritual home of the Order of the Knights Templar and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Convento de Cristo, founded in 1160 by Gualdim Pais, was the religious and military headquarters of the Order of the Knights Templar as it fought to drive the Moors from the Iberian peninsula. The monastery castle is set in wooded hills and surrounded by impressive walls. Architectural highlights include the nautical themes of the Window of the Chapter House (Janela do Capítulo) and the elegant Claustro Principal (Great Cloisters).
This mysterious place, redolent of the occult, seems straight from the pages of an Umberto Eco novel. The Knights, who lived here, came from all over Europe and even attended mass on horseback in the round chapel (rotunda).
The monastery (open Tues-Sun with a small entrance fee) is within easy reach of the center of Tomar: a pleasant and laid-back place of around 20,000 people to linger and relax for a few days. Visit the 17th century Igeja de São João Baptista (Church of Saint John the Baptist) in Praca da Republica and one of Portugal's oldest and best preserved synagogues, now a museum on Rua Dr. Joaquim Jacinto.
Tomar Tourist Office
Avenida Dr. Cândido Madureira
Tel. 249 322 427
10am-7pm April-Sept; 9.30am-6pm Oct-Mar.
Getting to Tomar
Train Travel in Portugal
The nearest train station is on Avendida Combatentes da Grande Guerra with trains to Lisbon's Oriente Station.
Bus Travel in Portugal
There are buses to Lisbon and Fátima from the bus terminal near the train station.
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Eating & Drinking
The main eating and drinking places are on Avenida Dr. Cândido Madureira or head down to the river.
The average high June temperatures for Portugal is between 22 degrees Centigrade and 26 degrees Centigrade.
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