Eastern Way

Until Estremoz we will have another journey of long intimacy with the cork oak and holm oak forest, winding through the dark green of the plantations and the buildings of the scarce estates. It is essential to prepare ourselves, both in terms of physical supply and mental robustness, because it is not foreseeable that we will find any kind of support on the Way.

In the city, the religious presence is quite profuse, with the presence of the Church and its religious orders, with convents, churches, chapels, and hermitages spread throughout the commune. An example of this is the Igreja de Santiago de Estremoz church, founded in the reign of D. Afonso III. Its edification, on the northwestern edge of the perimeter wall, and in a land that would be called “the Loureiro”, meant the constitution of an element on the definition of Estremoz urbanism and unification of a neighborhood called “Santiago”. Despite the great transformations the temple underwent, especially in the 17th century, it is still possible to see the Order of Avis cross on the main façade.

In the municipal museum, we quickly put aside the external attractions so that, in the words of José Saramago, “(…) we can marvel, at will, at the clay dolls that have taken their name from Estremoz. To marvel, he says, and there’s no better term. (…) The traveler doesn’t know where to look (…)”. And he finishes inventing “To Estremoz you will go, its dolls you will see, your soul you will save” (in Viagem a Portugal).The city also reveals the statue of Rainha Santa Isabel (Holy Queen Elizabeth), by the sculptor Martins Correia, which evokes the importance of D. Isabel of Aragon for Estremoz. The Queen, D. Dinis’ wife, elected Estremoz as her place of residence for long periods and died here on July 4, 1336. She was herself a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela in 1325, shortly after the death of D. Dinis, and there are still signs that point to a second pilgrimage in 1335. The list of miracles attributed to her was approved by Leon X in 1516, and the queen was canonized in 1625.

Integrated into the Pousada de Estremoz hotel, the Rainha Santa Isabel Chapel also evokes the importance of the Queen’s memory in Estremoz history. The oratory was built in 1659 by Queen D. Luísa de Gusmão, but the whole is, however, worth the magnificent works carried out on the initiative of D. João V, between the 20s and 30s of the 18th century, which gave the temple its appearance of total art. Oil paintings attributed to André Gonçalves and azulejo panels by Teotónio dos Santos illustrate the miracles of St Elizabeth of Aragon. The importance of the Holy Queen for Estremoz population was also witnessed by the 1808 inscription accompanying the chapel’s marble choir, in which the inhabitants of Estremoz thank her divine intervention for the protection granted during the French invasions.

Professor Joaquim Vermelho Municipal Museum
The building construction dates back to the 13th/14th century and it underwent renovations in the following centuries. You can visit there the permanent exhibition, which is divided into two floors and located at the top of the popular art collections (horn, cork, and wood) by artisans such as Mestre Rolo, José Vinagre, or Joaquim Velhinho. The reconstitution of an Alentejo House from the end of the 19th century is also presented, and on the ground floor, the Estremoz figurative and local pottery collections from the last two decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries.