This proposed hike starts in Vila Nogueira de Azeitão and from there we begin our journey, with a view to reaching Picos do Formosinho, the highest point in the Arrábida mountain range, and from where we'll see the dawn of a new day! Another event not to be missed!

A tradition...

Tradition dictates that on Good Friday the people of Azeitão leave their villages and set off across the Serra da Arrábida early in the morning so that they can be in Portinho by lunchtime, where they can savour a meal in the pleasant company of their walking friends.

How did it all begin? Nobody seems to know for sure.

Some say that in the remote times of their great-grandparents, they would climb the mountain on foot or on a mule to attend the Easter ceremonies held by the Arrábidos monks in their convent of Santa Maria, on the southern slope, where the cluster of small white houses surrounded by green scrubland look out over the dazzling sea that blends into the blue sky.

Others argue that the tradition originated so that local residents could walk along the winding mountain trails, the same route that the Arrábidos friars travelled when they came to supply the town with food.

There are also those who claim that it all began with the need for householders to stock up on the delicious fresh fish caught in those waters by fishermen and sold in Portinho da Arrábida during this period of abstinence from meat.

- Sunrise - Picheleiros - Serra da Arrábida - Formosinho Peak - Natural landscapes -