Top Things to See in Nazare and Sitio

Nazare is a fishing village that attracts beach goers in the summertime. It doesn't have many sights and outside of summer, it's pretty quiet.

The funicular provides access to the clifftop town of Sitio.

The funicular is €2.50 roundtrip.

The belvedere near the funicular station in Sitio affords fine views of Nazare's beach below.

Nazare's beach is wide and well groomed.

Church of Our Lady of Nazare sits on the Main Square in Sitio. The Church contains the Black Madonna, which was found in nearby rocks after nearly five centuries of being hidden. The legend goes that the nobleman Dom Roupinho was hunting deer and nearly fell off the cliff. He called for help from the Virgin Mary who appeared and saved his life. As locals came to venerate the spot where his life was saved, the Black Madonna was found in the rocks.

Bandstand in the center of Sitio's Main Square.

Nazare women are known to wear skirts with 7 petticoats While waiting for their fishermen to return from sea, they would fold layers over their heads, back and legs to keep warm. Wearing black is a sign of mourning--if their spouse died, they wore black for the rest of their lives.

Stone memorial to Vasco da Gama was erected in 1497 after he stopped here before leaving for India.

"Veado"--sculpture that commemorates the legend of Dom Roupinho. The deer holds a surfboard because Nazare is the site of an international surfing competition with waves nearly 30 meters high.

At the end of the road is the Sitio Lighthouse.

Sitio's Bullring hosts bullfights on Saturday nights mid-July to August.

Back in Nazare, the main square of Praca Souza Oliveira sits near the waterfront and has several restaurants.

2022 05 03