Saturday, May 28, 2022

Chapel of Our Lady of Remedies

A short drive from the river took us to the town of Lamego where we climbed 686 steps to reach the Chapel or Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies on a hill over looking the town.

The chapel was completed in the late 1700’s taking over 200 years to build.  At some point in that process a spring was found and it was believed that if you drank from it you could be healed from many ailments and women who were having problems becoming pregnant could petition the Virgin Mary to help them conceive.  In order to show the sincerity of their request the women would crawl up the 686 steps on their knees.

Half way down the hill, we stopped at a wine shop and sampled their sparkling wines made from grapes in this region.  Very nice, light wine paired with cheese and sausages.

The cruise took us through another lock and then we stopped at Pinhaou (pronounced ‘Ping-yow’) to visit Quinta da Ronda for a port wine tasting.  They gave us a short tour and tutorial on the port wine making process.

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