Throughout this stage, nature and landscape surround us. We can even walk along part of the Carregado Ditch, as well as the Royal Ditch of Azambuja, where the proximity of the water is striking. But the historic urban landscape is also something to behold, namely the centres next to the old farms and the built cultural heritage of the villages and towns, such as Vila Nova da Rainha and Azambuja, where the churches and cultural facilities are essential landmarks.

Stage 3 - Through the Lezíria

The Way continues through the Lezíria do Tejo, a territory where plains are predominantly bathed by the water that irrigates and encourages agriculture in the fertile fields. This alluvial plain landscape is often compartmentalised by hedges made up of indigenous species.

Pleasant river beaches can be found along the banks of the river, where leafy ash trees shade the banks. The historical cyclical phenomenon of floods altering the banks of the river and its tributaries and giving rise to the construction of dykes gives character to many villages and places, such as Valada do Ribatejo, Reguengo do Alviela and Porto de Muge.

Stage 4 - In the Shade of Olives

This is an extensive and intense journey and gives the Way a new sense of geographical orientation, as it turns towards the mountainous territory of the karst massif, where the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park is located. We therefore suggest that you divide your journey into five sections, with stops in between.

The Serra de Santo António plateau marks the transition to this area of steep slopes, with mountain ranges and cliffs, deep valleys and small agricultural pits. This is also the ancestral territory that separates and connects the river plains of the Tagus to the coast.

Stage 5 - Through the Aire and Candeeiros Mountains

The Way now continues through the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros. In this scenery, along deserted mountain ranges, small agricultural pits or even lairs emerge, on the slopes of which settlements were formed.

In this rural environment, agriculture and traditional pastoralism also mark the humanised landscape with the traditional stone walls that limit properties and protect flocks and herds, as well as the unexpected shepherds' shelters built entirely and by hand from stone.

Nature is always dominant, with its natural forms and configurations, especially the well-known caves and limpets, but also the unusual fields of lapiaz or the steep slopes of Mira-Minde.

The progressive approach to Fátima is marked by the contrast between traditional rurality and the expression of urbanity that the construction of the Sanctuary naturally generated. The city of Fátima, in keeping with historical tradition in Portugal, is the only urban centre formed in the 20th century near a place of worship and pilgrimage.