Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios

Above the town of Lamego in northern Portugal, a monumental stairway of 686 granite steps climbs the hillside of Monte de Santo Estêvão in nine flights to the church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. Seen from the town below, the zigzagging ramps, white walls and grey stone balustrades form one of the most theatrical pieces of baroque scenography in the country, a staircase designed as much to be looked at as to be climbed.

A chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen stood on the hill from 1361 until it was demolished in 1568, and devotion to Our Lady of Remedies grew up on the same spot. The present sanctuary was begun in 1750, and work on the church and its approach continued, stage by stage, until 1905. The church facade is in an exuberant late baroque and rococo manner, with curving granite ornament set against whitewashed walls. Inside, the main altar holds a carved wooden image of Our Lady of Remedies, side altars are dedicated to Saints Joachim and Anne, and panels of blue-and-white azulejo tiles depict scenes from the life of the Virgin.

The stairway itself is a sequence of landings decorated with chapels, fountains, statues and obelisks. Its most celebrated platform is the Pátio dos Reis, the Courtyard of the Kings, where statues of eighteen kings of Israel from the genealogy of the Virgin line the platform; at the foot of the climb, four figures personify the seasons. Each year in early September the sanctuary is the focus of a major pilgrimage festival, when pilgrims climb the stairs to the church. The sanctuary has been classified as a property of public interest since 1984.

Lamego is an old episcopal town at the edge of the Douro wine region, with a cathedral and a castle of medieval origin, and the sanctuary's stairway descends directly into its main avenue.

Getting there

The sanctuary stands on the southern edge of Lamego, in the district of Viseu; its stairway leads down to the town centre. The city of Vila Real lies about 24 km to the north. The nearest airfield is Vila Real Aerodrome (VRL), about 22 km away, which handles only small regional flights; the nearest international airport is Porto (OPO). The A24 motorway passes Lamego.