082816 Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja

This post is based primarily on Don's notes, occasionally supplemented with MT's notes from our Camino in 2016. When information from other sources is added—for further explanation to readers or to satisfy our own curiosity—that is set off in a text box (as this one).

Most of the photos that accompany this post are from Don’s camera (with a caption indicating the time it was taken); those from MT’s iPhone are indicated by “MT” placed at the beginning of the photo caption. Photos from any other source (such as the public domain Wikimedia Commons) indicate that source in the caption.

We got a 7 am wake-up call and ate the buffet breakfast at the hotel. We departed the hotel at 8:45.

At check-in the day before, the desk clerk had shown us how to get back on the Camino, by continuing north on the N-1 to the Lidl (chain grocery) store, then turn right and go under the A-1 (4-lane highway). However, Don had to make a quick stop for the banho (bathroom) at a gas station before we came to Lidl; so we really didn’t get started until 9 am.

From the Lidl intersection, we saw yellow and blue arrows (since we were on the alternate route Brierley’s map shows with gray dots).

10:41 AM - Near Vilafranca de Xira: under the A-1 overpass – horse and buggy that passed us and turned left.

We crossed over railroad tracks on a bridge that led to a paved road that circled back under the bridge to continue to the north along the tracks. Brierley said to cross back over the tracks at Castanheira do Ribatejo, but the arrows said to continue on a gravel road on the east side of the tracks to the Carregado train station, where we were able to go up and over the tracks.

MT Around 11 AM – Carregado: Don with sign entering town.

We saw a small church just past where the Camino route turned right and asked a lady about mass times, but she said it was already over.

MT 11:46 AM – Vila Nova da Rainha: MT with sign entering town.

So we went on to Vila Nova da Rainha, where the clerk at Hotel Lezíria Parque had told us there would be a mass at noon. We got there around 11:30, but the door to the church was closed and the gate to the church courtyard was locked. We asked a man on the street, and he said the mass was sometime earlier.

As we left Vila Nova da Rainha, the yellow and blue arrows led us to the train station and up and across the tracks to the east side again (we had to open 2 gates to get onto the gravel road from the train platform). At the end of the station area, there was a locked gate across the road, but yellow and blue arrows clearly said to continue; so we went around the gate where the fence was smashed down.

We continued on that gravel road for over 2 km (having passed posts numbered 41, 42, and 43 along the railroad tracks), but at the Espadanal da Azambuja train station the gravel road came to another locked gate across the road. This time, the bars of the gate were far enough apart that we could easily squeeze through and continue on the gravel road, and jut on the other side of the gate were clearly painted yellow and blue arrows pointing straight ahead. However, the gate had a red sign that we read “Zona de Caca Associão” (later, we saw more of these signs that more clearly said Caça, meaning Hunting), which seemed to mean to keep out. So, instead we took the elevator up and across the tracks and down the other side, through the train station, and wen a block or so to the west to get on the N3 highway.

12:29 PM - Espadanal da Azambuja: sign at train station; elevators and walkway for crossing tracks in right background.

This must have been past the Repsol gas station and its fish restaurant (per Brierley), where we had hoped to stop for lunch. So we continued on the N3 past the Galp gas station to enter Azambuja.

1:00 PM - Near Azambuja: 3 large trucks loaded with tomatoes, parked by processing plant.

1:01 PM - Near Azambuja: close-up on one of those trucks.

These trucks loaded to the top with tomatoes explained why we had been seeing tomatoes lying along the roadsides as we walked through this area (later, we would also see large fields of tomatoes).

Portugal is a major producer of tomatoes for processing. The rich agricultural land of the Ribatejo, with irrigation and dry, warn summers are good for tomato production. The growing season is from March until the middle of September. Harvesting starts in mid-July and  proceeds until the middle of October, or even November in some years.



1:25 PM - Azambuja: Don with sign entering town.

Azambuja (pop. of municipality 21,814; the town 6,900) is a municipality in the district of Lisbon, in the historical region of Ribatejo (Ribatejo translates as “shores of the Tejo (Tagus) River”). The seat of the municipality is the town (vila) of the same name, which occupies the civil parish (freguesia) also named Azambuja. The town is so old that there is no longer any surviving record of when it received its municipal charter. It has its own running of the bulls in May. The Ribatejo region, particularly the area of grasslands and wetlands fronting the Tejo estuary,  produces most of the animals used in Portuguese bullfighting, and it contains some of Portugal’s richest agricultural land, The area is also known for its robust red wines from the Periquita grapes.

At the roundabout near the entrance to town, we turned right and into Hotel Ouro, arriving at 1:30 pm. We ate apples we had saved from breakfast.

1:20 PM - Azambuja: MT heading for Hotel Ouro.

MT showered and washed and hung clothes on the balcony (although the desk clerk had said there was no balcony, she also said there were no glasses in the room, and we found two plastic cups in the bathroom).

Meanwhile, Don took a quick tour of Azambuja. The desk clerk said they had no map of the town; so Don just followed Brierley and arrows into town.

2:58 PM - Azambuja: Hotel Ouro (right) and the Ouro Negro gas station (on both sides of the highway), all directly on the N-3 and before the traffic circle (left). (The carimbo we got at the hotel said Ouro Negro.)

Azambuja: extra-large carimbo stamp (covering two spots on credencial) from Hotel Ouro that said “Ouro Negro Combustiveis e Lubrificantes, S.A. NIPC: 507 918 428 Sede: Zona industrial, lota 10 – 2080-221 Almeirim Filial: Antigo Campo de Feira – EN3 Km 10.250 2050-306 Azambuja” (Black Gold Combustibles and Lubricants, S.A. [Sociéte Anonyme = Corporation] NIPC [Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva = Identification Number of Collective Person]: 507 918 428 Seat: Industrial Zone, lot 10 – [postal code] 2080-221 Almeirim Affiliate: Antigo Campo de Feira [Old Fairgrounds] – [highway] N-3 Km 10.250 [postal code] 2050-306 Azambuja).

Just on the northwest side of the roundabout was the Praça de Touros Dr. Ortigão Costa bull ring.

3:02 PM - Azambuja: Praça de Touros Dr. Ortigão Costa bull ring, across traffic circle.

3:03 PM - Azambuja: Praça de Touros Dr. Ortigão Costa bull ring.

He found two pharmacies; the sign at the closest pharmacy said 29° C (84° Fahrenheit); the 2nd one was open, and he bought dental floss (€4.93) for MT, who had misplaced hers. The pharmacist was very helpful and spoke English. While we were speaking, a man who was a pilgrim (the first one we had seen since Lisbon) came in and, overhearing us, asked if there was a hotel nearby; the pharmacist an I together explained to him how to get to Hotel Ouro (MT later said she had seen him arrive there). I mentioned that my guidebook (he said he was also using Brierley) said there was also an albergue (hostel), but the pharmacist said it used to be free but was no longer open.

Don continued on that street (which seemed to be the main street) until a spray-painted yellow arrow indicated a right turn that led straight to the train station (no street name visible). On the way there, Don had also found the Posto do Turismo (Tourist Office) on the main street, but it was closed.

In Azambuja, we began to take notice of tile facades on many buildings: businesses, residences, churches, and even train stations. (See Appendix B  of this blog for more information about these tiles, known as azulejos.)

3:36 PM - Azambuja: tiled building on the main street (Rua Engenheiro Moriz da Maria).

3:38 PM - Azambuja: train station, with blue-and-white tile picture under name of town.

3:38 PM - Azambuja: train station -  ornate azulejos (blue-and-white tile) picture under name of town (Cropped).

He found 2 churches. One was the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, a National Monument, but it was closed.

According to the town’s web site www.cm-azambuja.pt, Igreja do Senhor Jesus da Misericórdia (Church of the Lord Jesus of Mercy) has a history going back to the turning of the 13th to the 14th century, when the confreres of the Espirito Santo (Holy Spirit), imbued with the spirit of Queen Saint Isabel, founded in Azambuja the medieval confraternity and the hospice in the name of the Espirito Santo. It was devoted to the support of pilgrims, wayfarers, and sick poor people.



3:34 PM - Azambuja: sign for Santa Casa da Misericórdia – National Monument (the sign hard-to-read says the confraternity was founded in 1552 and that the date over the main door is 1701).

3:35 PM - Azambuja: Santa Casa da Misericórdia – façade.

The other church said 1709 over the door, which was open. So Don was able to go inside, but the mass schedule said only at 11 am on Sundays. The mass schedule seemed to identify this church as Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assuncão, but it was also known as Igreja Matriz Santa Maria de Azambuja.

3:48 PM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – façade, bell tower, and side door.

The primitive Igreja Matriz Santa Maria de Azambuja (aka Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assuncão [Church of Our Lady of the Assumption]) was built in the 13th century. In the mid-16th century, it was rebuilt after being damaged by the earthquake of 1531. The new church was built in the Portuguese Mannerist style, in which the structure, both exterior and interior, is governed by the sobriety of the constructive lines and decorative program. The façade shows no decoration, except for the pediment, and is pierced by windows of different sizes. However, the interior was subsequently enriched with gilded carving at the end of that century and the beginning of the next.

The most important architectural elements are the two portals. The main portal has a rectangular frame flanked by pilasters and surmounted by a triangular pediment. The unusual, decorative south side portal, facing the square, presents a less common model, in which the door is surmounted by a tympanum, flanked by two pairs of Corinthian columns, the whole being surmounted by a triangular pediment. These elements show full knowledge of erudite classicist architecture and Italian tratadisticos models.

The interior of the church is divided into three staggered naves, whose spans are separated by pierced arches supported on Tuscan columns. The chancel was modified in 1678, boasting at its center a Baroque altarpiece of gilt. It retains the 16th-century ceiling, a starry dome. The walls of the church are covered with patterned tiles of the 17th century bearing two patterns of different scale and decoration.

One of the highlights is the altar de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (altar of Our Lady of the Rosary), executed in 1595, with the Tree of Jesse painted on wood. Another is the altar do Senhor Jesus das Chagas (altar of the Lord Jesus of the Wounds), from the early 17th century, with the Calvary (crucifixion) painted on canvas.



3:44 PM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – rear to apse.

3:45 PM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – baptismal font and tiled walls.

3:47 PM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – main door with “1709” on wooden transom above it.

Monday, August 29, 2016, 9:31 AM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – south side door (Cropped).



Monday, August 29, 2016, 9:31 AM - Azambuja: Igreja Matriz Santa Maria – old-looking pillar in Praça do Municipio square near church, tower and side door of church.

In the square next to the church, there was an old-looking, ornate pillar that Don thought was something like rollo jurisdicional (pillar of justice) we had seen in Spain. It turned out to be the pelourinho (pillory) of Azambuja.

3:50 PM - Azambuja: Praça do Municipio – old-looking pillar in square near church.

The pelourinho (pillory) of Azambuja, classified as a National Monument, represents the symbol of the independent units of administration and the local district, a peripheral power different from the center or central power. It was designed decoratively in the Manueline style (see Appendix B of this blog for more information on the Manueline style). It is from the beginning of the 16th century, possibly after the confirmation of the “new charter” of 1513. It was dismantled in the middle of the 19th century and rebuilt in the center of the Praça do Municipio (square of the municipality), in the second half of the 20th century.

A pelourinho (pillory) is directly linked to a foral.* It was erected after the foral was granted and placed in the main square of the town.

* A carta de foral, or simply foral, was a royal document in Portugal, whose purpose was to establish a concelho (council, municipality) and regulate its administration, borders, and privileges. A newly founded town would also need the king’s approval, through a foral, in order to be considered one. Thus, the granting of the foral was the most important event of a town’s or city’s history. The foral made a concelho free from feudal control, transferring power down to the local concelho, with its own municipal autonomy. As a result, the population would become directly and exclusively under the dominion and jurisdiction of the crown, excluding the feudal Lord from the power hierarchy.

On the way up the main street, Don had seen a small grocery store, but it was closed (at 3:20 pm) even though the sign said it should be open. On the way back, Don saw it was open, but they had no bananas (which MT had asked him to look for). So Don went to the Aldi supermercado across the street from our hotel and bought 2 bananas for €0.65.

Then, back at the hotel, Don showered and washed and hung clothes.

At 7 pm, we went to jantar (dinner) in the Snack Bar (not the Restaurante) Ouro, next to the hotel part. We were not impressed with looks of the place, but we had a nice, friendly, young waitress who spoke English. Before the 1st course, she brought us a tray of 23 green olives in oil and garlic; bread; sardine paté, and spread cheese. 1) both had vegetable soup; 2) MT dourado (sea bass) with cooked potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and salad / Don bacalhao a forno (cod in the oven) with sliced, fried potatoes (he forgot to ask) and lots of sauce with tomato, onion, and red pepper, and a small salad; desert: MT pineapple mousse / Don chocolate mousse; 1 liter red wine of the region. We left a €2 tip for the waitress.

7:29 PM - Azambuja – Snack Bar Ouro – Don’s bacalhao.