Tom`s travels: Santarem (28/02/2015)

I took the train from Coimbra at 8:54 and got there around 10:45; once I descended the train at Santarem's train station I had to walk for a while, since the station itself is on the river edge and quite far from the city center. I first checked a church that was in the village of Santa Iria da Ribeira but it was closed and quite ruined. So I started walking up towards the town center; it took me nearly 30 minutes but in the meantime I stopped halfway to check out the Igreja Santa Cruz, a fine gothic example, and even though it looked restored it was closed. A little further up I also took a small path leading through the forest that took me to a beautiful gothic fountain called the Fonte das Figueiras which looked more like a defenisve wall than a fountain. After reaching the top of the hill, the first thing I met was the Convento de Santa Clara which was still under restorations so closed too. The monastery built in the 13th century, is probably the largest church in Santarem and a perfectly kept, despite the destruction of its cloisters and dependencies, example of Gothic architecture with a side entrance rather than a main front one. I then moved on and stopped at the Convento de São Francisco, another great example of Gothic architecture, built around the same time as the previous one in the 13th century. Luckily this one was open and after paying the student's entrance fee 2€, I started visiting the monastery. The entrance began through the cloister, and then inside the church; most of the church's inside and chapels were empty due to many years of abandonment, however most of it is still under restoration and will probably look much better in the future. Once out of the church, I headed into the city center; I first stopped at a small but nice chapel. the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Piedade, and then further on I found the cathedral to be already closed for lunch. I thus decided to head to the nearest Pingo Doce supermarket, and passing through the old town's streets I eventually reached the southern end of town and bought two sandwiches and some fruit. It had been cloudy until now but the sun had started to come out so I decided to eat my lunch in the Portas do Sol park, which is the main city park. The view from there was amazing, with the Tejo river flowing right nder and a beautiful landscape all around. After lunch, coming back into the city center, I stopped by the Igreja de São João de Alporão, another Gothic church, though unfortunately closed too. So I headed on and reached the Igreja da Graça, built later in the 14th century it is one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in the country; yet another Gothic church definitely confirmed how Santarem is considered to be the Gothic capital of Portugal. The inside was very nice, and interesting to see was the tomb of Pedro Alvares Cabral the discoverer of Brazil; there was also a statue of him right outside the church. I then asked the lady inside the church if the Torre das Cabaças was open and she answered it was and brought me to it, opening the door and briefly explaining its history first as a defensive tower, then as the town's clock tower and eventually as we see it now, a small museum After thanking the lady I move on and reached the Igreja de Santa Maria de Marvila, which particularly surprised me since from the outside it didn't look like much, but once inside I marveled at the colored and diverse azulejos covering the whole walls. Not far I also visited the Igreja da Misericordia which had a really nice baroque interior. Before heading back to the train station, I went to see the Cathedral, which housed a really nice Diocesan museum; the ticket price also included the visit to the Cathedral itself, built in the 17th century and richly decorated, it used to be in fact a Jesuit church. It was then time to go, and on the way back I tried the local sweet and then caught the 16:12 train eventually reaching Coimbra at 17:44.