Wednesday 2 September 2026 – Today is the first day of a 3-day heat wave, with forecast temperatures rising to 35°C today, 40°C tomorrow and 36°C in Friday. Our bags go to Azinhaga today, and that would be a 27km walk – probably seven hours on foot, with just the one possible coffee stop shown on the map, at about the halfway point. In any case the wisdom of undertaking such a walk is questionable; given that Jane has yet to get back to full health, it made the Uber decision an easy one. So: no Caminho hiking today. But Santarém is an interesting city, and so we walked around it before riding to Azinhaga.

Our hotel room had been comfortable, but the breakfast provided was not one that I would expect from a hotel that parades a four-star rating on its roof. The selection of fruit was meagre and of breakfast cereals dismal. We made up for the shortfall with toast and pastries. One consolation was that as one waited the interminable time for the toast to become, well, toasted, there was at least a delightful cabaret going on outside the window.

The hotel is a couple of kilometres outside downtown Sentarém, and the walk in took us past the bull ring, which is clearly a thriving entertainment centre.

Jane had worked out a list of Things To See, which included a number of churches, which we like to look into. The first church, the Edifício e Igreja da Misericórdia, an attractive edifice,

was closed for maintenance. So we carried on. Our next destination was the cathedral,

which we fully expected to be open, and it was. The building it’s in is a combined church and museum, and the official route through takes you first into the church and then the museum. As one would expect, the church’s interior is very impressive. It’s opulently appointed,

and its ceiling is remarkable.

Many areas are lavishly tiled, for example behind the altar,

although appearances may be deceptive. In other, more accessible, places, we could see that some of the decorative work is painted or inlaid stonework, rather than tiles.

The ceiling above the altar is another impressive piece of artwork

and there are ornate chapels around the sides of the nave.

The museum has, as one would expect, many artefacts to display, including this wooden crucifix, the Christ of Mont’Iraz, dating from the 13th century

which is unusual, as it shows Christ with one arm detached from the cross. it is said that Christ crucified released one arm from the cross to address a shepherd begging for divine intercession and in Catholic theology, this “Cross of Forgiveness” symbolizes Christ reaching down in mercy towards humanity.

My interest was mainly in some beautiful azulejos,

and other lovely tiling work in the refectory area as well as elsewhere.

Outside the cathedral is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Piedade.

We looked in, and it would seem to be an interesting interior, but Something Was Going On

which we think was probably choir practice, as the standard of singing was really quite high.

Also outside the Cathedral is a café, so we availed ourselves of its offerings, marvelling at the existence of a Benetton shop nearby. Who knew that Benetton was still A Thing? Not I, for sure.

The central area of Santarém is a cheerful place

with some very decorative tiling for street names.

(more on the Portas do Sol later) as well as some other quirks, like this mosaic David

and this delightfully-named street – Pastry Shop Passage!

The Igreja de Santa Maria de Marvila has a very decorative Manueline portal,

and is apparently the most tiled church in Portugal.

It was originally a mosque, but became a church under the reconquista* of Portugal in the late 12th century. Some of its Moorish architecture remains, for example in the shape of this doorway,

but the church has had extensive makeovers, not least in the Manueline style, and has tiles over practically every surface – some 65,000 in total we were told!

The roof over the altar is a lovely piece of decorative vaulting.

There was one more church to look into (and get a selo from) – the Igreja da Graça.

Again, this has a beautiful Manueline portal

and it has a huge, though barely elaborated, interior.

It also has, unusually, a 20-segment Rose Window,

which is the emblem the church uses in its selo.

Outside of the churches, there were a couple of things that were must-see, such as this Bordalo II Hoopoe,

a part of the city walls of interest to peregrinos, the St. James Gate (Santiago Gate),

and a couple of viewpoints exploiting the city’s elevated position. These could be found in the environs of the gardens of the Portas do Sol. The walk there took us past a couple of artworks. The first was a reverse of something I’ve noted a few times in Portugal; you catch a glimpse of something that might be artwork on the outside of a building, only to find that it’s actually decaying plaster creating pattern. This work, though, was the other way round; I thought at first it was decaying plaster, but actually it’s a drawing,

with some kind of Knights Templar overtones, though what the two fingered salute is about is beyond me. The other artwork was similarly obscure in meaning.

The views afforded over the river Targus are lovely. From outside the Portas do Sol, one can see the old city walls

and from the gardens, looking over the city walls, you get sweeping views along the river.

The gardens were attractive and very pleasant – not least because they feature a café!

There are a couple of statues, one to commemorate the soldiers of the First World War

and one of Afonso Henriques.

King Afonso I was the first king of Portugal, from 1139 until his death on 1185. He achieved Portugal’s independence, establishing a new kingdom and doubling its area with the Reconquista, an objective that he pursued until his death.

The gardens also have an aviary, mainly populated by budgerigars,

although there are a couple of other species there as well – this is a cockatiel.

By this stage it was getting hot and so we thought we would head for Azinhaga. Summoning an Uber took literally seconds, and we had an interesting and engaging ride with Yasim, originally from Pakistan and in Portugal via Dubai, to the Casa de Azzancha Alojamento Local in Azinhaga. We had a few moments of dread, as we’d been deposited in, frankly, the middle of nowhere in very hot sunshine in front of somewhere that appeared to be closed. But in a few moments we were hailed from a passing car, and the owner, the delightful Helena, parked up, let us in, and explained how things would work, bidding us make ourselves welcome. It’s a lovely place

and so we helped ourselves gratefully to the kettle and the laundry facilities.

Azinhaga is not a big place, but it does have a restaurant, Peitaças. Life being how it is, it’s at exactly the opposite end of the village from our accommodation, some 20 minutes walk away. The walk over gave us the chance to see the various parts of what’s a nicely maintained village, overall: the newer houses;

the older ones;

the cute ones;

and the rather lovely idea of growing plants out of specially-created holes in the pavements.

The restaurant was pretty much as we’d imagined it: very basic, with a limited food and drinks menu, but a friendly reception, good, honest food and great value. We both had picanha steaks – a rump cut – and chips, and it was excellently tasty. Afterwards, we walked back to the Casa through the gloaming

accompanied by the traditional sound track one finds in these places.

It’s been a good, relaxed day, a sharp contrast to how it would have been if we’d taken on the hike. Tomorrow’s forecast is, as I said earlier, for 40°C heat and so there’s no way we’re walking in that. Our destination, which is another small village, seems to have one or two things that will repay exploring, so doing that is plan A, assuming we can find a cab driver willing to come out to this neck of the woods. Check back in later to find out…

* The Reconquista is one of the terms used to describe the historical process spanning almost eight hundred years, from the 8th to the 15th centuries, during which the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula progressively sought to recover the territories occupied by the Muslim Moorish kingdoms.