Portugal · PT

Santuário do Nosso Senhor dos Caminhos

The Santuário do Nosso Senhor dos Caminhos — the Shrine of Our Lord of the Roads — rises from open granite-country near the village of Rãs, in the municipality of Sátão (Viseu district, old Beira Alta), on the left bank of the Rio Vouga. What began as a wayside resting place for pilgrims has grown into one of the largest and most vividly traditional shrines in central Portugal, a grand chapel crowned by a tall bell tower and ringed by a haunting row of fifteen monumental granite columns. Its very name — "Lord of the Roads" — tells the story: this was a stopping point on the old routes of devotion toward the sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Lapa and the long road to Santiago de Compostela. Today it draws thousands of faithful, curious travellers and photographers, especially on the Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity, when its legendary romaria (pilgrimage-feast) turns the quiet hillsides into a sea of people, candles and colour.