Santarém

Santarém stands on a bluff a hundred metres above the Tagus floodplain, which is why it mattered: a Roman town, then a major Muslim city, taken by Afonso Henriques in 1147 by a night assault that the chronicles describe in detail, and afterwards a royal residence and Cortes town. It is now the best concentration of Gothic architecture in Portugal - Graça church with its enormous rose window cut from a single stone and the tomb of Pedro Álvares Cabral, Santa Clara, São João de Alporão and Marvila among others - along with the Seminário church, a full baroque interior. The Portas do Sol garden occupies the old citadel on the bluff edge, with a terrace giving the Tagus, its bends and the flat lezíria beyond. The Ribatejo is bull-breeding and horse country, and the national agricultural fair is held here each June.

History

The Romans, who occupied the region in the 2nd century BC, founded Scalabis, the administrative capital of one of Lusitania's regions, and the Visigoths took it in 460. Under Arab rule from the 8th century it was called Shantarin, and Afonso Henriques took it on 15 March 1147; afterwards many Cortes met here, and King Fernando I chose to be buried in its Franciscan convent (Wikipedia, Santarém, Portugal).

The main sights

• The Gothic churches - Graça, Marvila, São João de Alporão and others in one town.
• The rose window - Graça's, cut from a single piece of stone.
• Portas do Sol - a garden on the citadel bluff with the Tagus laid out below.
• The Ribatejo - bull and horse country, with the June agricultural fair.

When to go

March to June and September to November; June brings the agricultural fair. Half a day. Summer on the Tagus plain is hot.

Good to know

Several of the churches are closed or open only at limited hours - check before building a route around them. The town is spread out with steep streets. Santarém is a working provincial city, not a preserved one.

Nearby

The Tagus lezíria and Alpiarça are across the river; Almeirim is south-east.

Key facts