Our Lady of the Thorn

The Virgin of the thorn · Evora

On the outskirts of Evora, the advocation of Nossa Senhora do Espinheiro was born, according to tradition, of the apparition of an image of the Virgin on a thorn, and gave rise to a famous hieronym convent in the 15th century.

Origin and history

The tradition places the origin of devotion to the year 1400, in the apparition or finding of an image of the Virgin on a thorn; by the devotion that arose, in 1412 a first chapel was raised in the place. The link with the thorn is the central identity element of this advocation.

As the importance of the place grew as a goal of pilgrimage, in 1458, during the reign of Afonso V, the church was founded and then the convent, populated by monks of the Order of Saint Jerome. The Convent do Espinheiro was one of the most relevant of the Alentejo, linked to the court and the religious life of Evora.

The general sources do not allow for the safe identification of the feast, patronage or coronation; it consists of the devotional origin linked to the thorn and the foundation of the convent.