Lamego is a small town with a big shrine. There was a roman settlement here and an early adopter of Christianity (570AD). There is a castle and a cathedral but most people come to see the shrine and church of Our Lady of Remedies. The church was started in 1761 and finished in 1905. It is built on a hill high above the town.

There is a fountain outside that is said to have healing waters. People come from far around just to fill up bottles with this good-for-you stuff. We filled our water bottle and had a very healthy day.

The church was beautiful inside.

Despite the beauty of the church, most people are in awe of the 686 steps linking 9 terraces leading down to the town. The stairway is a setting for the stations of the cross and encourages pilgrims to reflect and meditate at each station. However, my hunch is that now there is less meditation and more of a focus on the physicality of making the trek either up or down the stairs.

We spent some time wandering this quaint village and explored the local farmer’s market. The focus was on the practical rather than the touristic. There were many stalls with vegetables and plants, as well as bunnies and a variety of chickens and other birds.

There was an option for people on the tour to skip the town and go visit the other important site at Lamego, the Mateus Palace. many of my generation will recall Mateus wine, a sweet concoction that convinced many of us in our youth, that wine was not a good binging beverage. The palace is still owned and occupied by the Mateus family. The prize our group won at the trivia night later on this day was a bottle of Mateus wine. It was much better than I remembered, but still I had no need to buy some to bring home.