Our Lady of the Cola

The shrine of the Castro · Ourique (Beja)

Next to the old Castro da Cola, in the Bajo Alentejo, there is a unique Marian sanctuary of pilgrimage, the goal of one of the region's most rooted romaneries around the Nativity of the Virgin.

Origin and history

The sanctuary, owned by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Ourique, is built prior to the 16th century, although the present hermitage was raised at the beginning of the 17th century. Over time it was enriched: the major altarpiece in the 18th century, and the nartex, the towers and the side altarpiece in the 19th century. By its scale it is unique among the pilgrimage shrines of the Alentejo.

It soon became one of the most important pilgrimage places in the Lower Alentejo and even the Algarve. At the beginning of the 18th century it is already documented as its great rostrum that of the Nativity of the Virgin, on 7 and 8 September, tradition that lasts. The sanctuary is closely linked to the Castro da Cola, an old town occupied from prehistory to the Islamic era, with which it shares location.