May 2021
Event details
Event Description
In this event we'll start our walk near the Basilica of Santa Quitéria, in Meca, a parish in the municipality of Alenquer, and from there we'll walk along various rural paths, on a gentle gradient with a steeper incline, for a short distance, to ascend the Cabeço de Meca, with a breathtaking view over a lagoon, surrounded by scenery painted with the Tagus in the background and Montejunto looming on the horizon... Another event not to be missed!
The pilgrimage of Santa Quitéria de Meca and the Blessing of the Cattle
Popular belief holds that this traditional blessing preserves the people and animals present from the ravages of rabies. Tradition also links other ritual acts to the blessing, which have now fallen into disuse: the custom of feeding the animals bread dipped in oil from the church lamp and then blessed, or the practice of taking pieces of blessed nasturtium to protect the animals left at home. Another custom that is still very much alive today is buying the traditional pilgrimage cake, the argolas, and the cherry rattles.
Basilica of Santa Quitéria
Santa Quitéria appears to us as a perfect model and example of neo-classical architecture, with roots in the work of the convent of Mafra and a notable stylistic approximation to the Basilica of Estrela and the Basilica of Santo António da Sé, its contemporaries.
It was built by the confraternity of Santa Quitéria de Meca, at the time one of the richest and most powerful in Portugal, and under the royal protection of Queen Maria I. The construction of the church was finished in the last years of the 18th century - the date 1799, inscribed on a side window of the building, gives us this information.
The cult of Santa Quitéria (invoked against anger and madness) seems to be quite ancient, since according to legend, her image, with miraculous powers, appeared on a hawthorn tree in Quinta de São Brás, near Mecca, in 1238. Built with limestone from the region - the place where the stone was extracted for this work is still known today as the "Saint's quarry" - the church has two elegant bell towers and a busy façade divided at full height by six pilasters with Ionic capitals that define the spaces where the three mullioned windows and the three front porticoes of the galilee open.
Cabeço de Meca
Also called Cabeço de Santa Quitéria, it is 279 metres above sea level. It is classified as a volcanic chimney. A few hundred metres north of the Basilica of Mecca, there is a crater with a small lake, which probably originated as a volcanic chimney in remote times in the Lisbon volcanic complex. Although it's a little strange because there are no known "volcanic lakes" on the mainland (the Azores are well known)... this one is small and has been badly destroyed by basalt mining, which has significantly damaged the shape of the original volcanic chimney crater. The "Cabeço" also appears under the name of Santa Quitéria, and it can't be ruled out that the waters of the volcanic lagoon were considered some kind of cure for hydrophobia (rabies). In its current form, with the destruction of the side walls, the lagoon doesn't look much different from an ordinary quarry pond, but the shape of the "Cabeço" is still clearly visible.
Some of the points of interest on the walk
- Mecca - Basilica of Santa Quitéria (Mecca) - Cabeço de Meca and Lagoa - Quinta do Val d'Olhalvo - Catém - São Braz - Agricultural farms - Panoramic view of the Serra de Montejunto - Natural landscapes -
Location
Meeting Point
In front of the Basilica of Santa Quitéria (Meca - Alenquer)
Largo de Santa Quitéria
2580-181 Mecca
Latitude: 39° 4'56.55″N
Longitude: 9° 2'5.18″W
Meeting time: 9h20
Departure time: 9h30
Estimated end time: 14h
Route Features and Equipment
Circular
Circuit
Equipment
Footwear and clothing suitable for hiking