Hello friends. I want to talk about a short trip we made to a small Portuguese town. This town is Leiria situated between Lisbon and Porto. It is also the center of the Leiria district.
We started our journey from Jardim Luís de Camões park. I must say the city is quite green. This statue depicts a shepherd from Peregrino, a hero in the poems of Portuguese poet Rodrigues Lobo. During this trip I also learned about Portuguese literature.
From here we arrived at Rodrigues Lobo Square. This is the main tourist square with various cafes, shops activities. The last time we came here, there was the Leiria Sto Festival. The square was filled with colorful people.
Leiria is significant because it is considered the cradle of Portuguese democracy. The first settlement here dates back to long before the Portuguese state began to exist. Initially this area was a Celtic Iberian settlement, later inhabited by the Romans who called it Collippo. Lisbon's old name was Olisipo. In the eighth century Muslims arrived and stayed for a long time. However later Portugal's first king, Afonso I conquered the area and ordered the construction of a castle on a high hill for defense. The modern history of Leiria begins with this castle.
This place changed hands several times. Since those times, Leiria has played an important role in Portuguese history. The first parliamentary meeting was held here. This was the first meeting attended by clergy and nobles, as well as city representatives, marking the beginning of parliamentary monarchy in Portugal.
There was another palace here, a royal palace where kings and queens resided. Now this building is used as a police station. Then, we passed by the lone-standing bell tower and climbed to the observation terrace where we could see Leiria's main cathedral, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Architecturally it is a very interesting structure because it is a hall church where all the naves are of the same height.When we first arrived, we visited this cathedral and probably stumbled upon the most astonishing graduation ceremony I've ever seen. Inside the church many people were celebrating their graduations, adorned with bowties and ribbons.
As for the standalone bell tower it also has quite an interesting story. Initially the cathedral had its own bell tower, but since this tower was on the other side of the building, people on the other side of the hill couldn't hear the bell and didn't know when to attend worship. So by order of the bishops of the time, a separate bell tower was built from the cathedral so that the bell sound could be heard by people on the other side of the hill as well.
Later we passed by the Mercy Church there's an interesting story about it too. During the Reconquista from Spain, Jews fled here to Portugal. There was a Jewish quarter and a synagogue here, but later, probably in the 20th century, the synagogue was converted into a church.
Portuguese architecture truly leaves one in awe. There's a very charming market here, called Mercado de Santa Anna, that is Saint Anna Market there was a Book Fair here during our visit. And of course once again, I realized I knew nothing about Portuguese literature because I only know two names, one of which I learned that day: Rodrigues Chalobu and Miguel Torga. We learned about Miguel Torga while touring the Douro Valley. I would like to discuss them in detail in my future posts.
Walking here is really enjoyable. In fact the city as a whole is very pleasant, probably why it ranks second in the city life satisfaction index in Portugal. We haven't seen the city that ranks first yet, but we'll definitely go. By the way while walking we saw the Leiria Museum located in Santa Agostinho, an old monastery. However we couldn't enter because museums open very early in the morning (at 9) and close quite early (around four). We crossed a wonderful pedestrian bridge, complete with bar stools and a bar counter it would have been really pleasant to sit here in the evenings, have a drink watch this wonderful river.
I really liked it here. I particularly enjoyed the vibrant mix of history. This mix is evident everywhere, in architecture and culture.
By the way it's worth mentioning a few important points about the culture. Firstly this place is considered the capital of Portuguese rock music. Also it's a significant point in the history of Portuguese cinema. Yes Portugal indeed has quite good cinema. There's a cinema museum here, quite modern, standing next to the Saint Peter Church, which is a historical architectural example, naturally built in the Romanesque style emerging shortly after the castle was built. I'll continue sharing my travel memories in Portugal with you. Thanks for the reading.