Nazaré, Portugal

The name Nazaré is the Portuguese version of Nazareth, the biblical city in the Holy Land.

File:Legend of Nazaré (5669344542).jpg]]

{{Main|Legend of Nazaré}}

File:2450 Nazaré, Portugal - panoramio (1).jpg in Portugal.]]

The earliest settlements were in Pederneira and in Sítio, above the beach. They provided the inhabitants with refuge against raids by Viking and, later, French, English and Dutch pirates, that lasted until as late as the beginning of the 19th century.{{cite web|title=NAZARE TOURISM GUIDE, Portugal's most picturesque fishing village|url=http://www.golisbon.com/portugal/cities/nazare.html|work=golisbon.com}} In fact, only in the 19th century, with the gradual end of maritime piracy, was possible for the people to start occupying the Praia which is today considered the town center.

According to the Legend of Nazaré, the town derives its name from a small wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, brought from Nazareth, Holy Land, to a monastery near the city of Mérida, Spain, by a monk in the 4th century. The statue was brought to its current location in 711 by another monk, Romano, accompanied by Roderic, the last Visigoth king of today's Portugal. After their arrival at the seaside they decided to become hermits. Romano lived and died in a small natural grotto, on top of a cliff above the sea. After his death and according to his wishes, the king buried him in the grotto. Roderic left the statue of the Black Madonna in the grotto on an altar.

The first church in Sítio was built over the grotto to commemorate a miraculous intervention in 1182 by the Virgin Mary, which saved the life of the 12th-century Portuguese knight Dom Fuas Roupinho (possibly a templar) while he was hunting deer one morning in a dense fog. The episode is usually referred to as the Legend of Nazaré. In memory of the miracle he had a chapel (Capela da Memória) built over the small grotto, where the miraculous statue had been placed by king Roderic. Beside the chapel, on a rocky outcrop 110 meters above the Atlantic, one can still see the mark made in the rock by one of the hooves of Dom Fuas' horse.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} This Church of Nazareth, high on the rocky outcrop over Pederneira Bay, was noted as a landmark in sailors' manuals.{{cite book|title=Sailing Directions for the West Coasts of France, Spain and Portugal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vMShAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA348|year=1891|publisher=United Kingdom Hydrographic Office|page=348}}{{cite book|last=Murray|first=John|title=A handbook for travellers in Portugal ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5pk2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA88|year=1856|publisher=J. Murray|page=88}}

In 1377, King Fernando I of Portugal founded a new, more spacious church, which was totally transformed between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré is a rich baroque building, with splendid tiles on its interior. Behind and above the main altar, visitors can see and venerate the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Nazaré. The religious figures are crowned by 18th century diadems, presented to the church by King John VI. The sacred image is wrapped with a green cloak decorated with gold, gifted to the Virgin Mary by King John V. The main chapel is separated from the body of the church with an arcade made from pau-santo and a few pillars decorated with mosaics in 19th century Italian marble.

The Nazarene coastline is among the most dangerous in the world with its high waves, with local fishermen that have braved them for centuries. The town’s reliance on the sea for food production and economic viability is a result of the unique climate that differs from the surrounding Mediterranean eco-zone where land-farming is more common.{{cite journal |title=Nazaré: Women and Men in a Prebureaucratic Portuguese Fishing Village by Jan Brøgger |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4603058.pdf |website=JSTOR |publisher=Springer | jstor=4603058 |access-date=2022-01-21}} Fishing in Nazaré is an activity carried out entirely by the village men, leaving the women to run daily life and daily governance in the town. These distinctly gendered roles and adherence to rudimentary fishing practices are widely believed to be the primary reason the town has not yet developed into a modern industrial society.{{cite journal |title=Nazaré: Women and Men in a Prebureaucratic Portuguese Fishing Village by Jan Brøgger |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4603058.pdf |website=JSTOR |publisher=Springer | jstor=4603058 |access-date=2022-01-21}}

The municipality of Nazaré borders the Atlantic to the west and is surrounded entirely by the municipality of Alcobaça to the north, east and south.

File:Nazaré Fort São Miguel.jpg

Nazaré has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The town's climate is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and the seasonal upwelling phenomena typical of western Portugal gives it cool to warm, dry and overall sunny summers. As a result of the marine layer, morning and evening fogs are very frequent in the summer and can persist all day on rare occasions. The seasonal downwelling on the other hand is most common in the winter and gives Nazaré a more unstable, Atlantic dominated weather with often overcast, rainy and stormy days, clear days, however, are not uncommon in this season. Temperatures above {{convert|30|C}} or below {{convert|3|C}} are very uncommon.{{cite web |title=Average Weather in Nazaré, Portugal, Year Round - Weather Spark |url=https://weatherspark.com/y/32064/Average-Weather-in-Nazar%C3%A9-Portugal-Year-Round |website=weatherspark.com |access-date=13 May 2021}} Nazaré also experiences some seasonal lag, with temperatures in September being warmer than those in June.

{{Weather box

|location = Nazaré

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|Jan high C = 14.5

|Feb high C = 14.9

|Mar high C = 17.1

|Apr high C = 17.8

|May high C = 19.5

|Jun high C = 21.6

|Jul high C = 23.1

|Aug high C = 23.4

|Sep high C = 22.7

|Oct high C = 20.5

|Nov high C = 17.2

|Dec high C = 15.0

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 10.6

|Feb mean C = 11.3

|Mar mean C = 12.7

|Apr mean C = 13.8

|May mean C = 15.9

|Jun mean C = 17.7

|Jul mean C = 19.2

|Aug mean C = 19.4

|Sep mean C = 18.4

|Oct mean C = 16.3

|Nov mean C = 13.5

|Dec mean C = 11.5

|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 6.6

|Feb low C = 7.7

|Mar low C = 8.4

|Apr low C = 9.8

|May low C = 12.2

|Jun low C = 13.9

|Jul low C = 15.3

|Aug low C = 15.3

|Sep low C = 14.1

|Oct low C = 12.1

|Nov low C = 9.8

|Dec low C = 8.1

|year low C =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 81.7

|Feb precipitation mm = 70.4

|Mar precipitation mm = 45.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 58.3

|May precipitation mm = 52.3

|Jun precipitation mm = 22.3

|Jul precipitation mm = 9.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 10.6

|Sep precipitation mm = 32.2

|Oct precipitation mm = 79.8

|Nov precipitation mm = 91.2

|Dec precipitation mm = 98.2

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 13.7

|Feb precipitation days = 13.1

|Mar precipitation days = 10.4

|Apr precipitation days = 12.6

|May precipitation days = 10.2

|Jun precipitation days = 6.2

|Jul precipitation days = 3.8

|Aug precipitation days = 3.8

|Sep precipitation days = 7.2

|Oct precipitation days = 12.1

|Nov precipitation days = 13.0

|Dec precipitation days = 14.5

|year precipitation days =

|Jan humidity = 82

|Feb humidity = 79

|Mar humidity = 76

|Apr humidity = 77

|May humidity = 74

|Jun humidity = 73

|Jul humidity = 74

|Aug humidity = 74

|Sep humidity = 75

|Oct humidity = 79

|Nov humidity = 80

|Dec humidity = 81

|year humidity =

|source 1 = IPMA,{{cite web |title=São Pedro de Moel (1971-2000) |url=https://www.ipma.pt/bin/file.data/climate-normal/cn_71-00_S_PEDRO_MOEL.pdf |publisher=IPMA |access-date=9 May 2021}} Portuguese Environmental Agency{{cite web |title=Cela 16C/01C |url=https://snirh.apambiente.pt/index.php?idRef=MTM4Ng==&findestacao=16C/01C |publisher=APA |access-date=18 July 2021}}

}}

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 3 civil parishes (freguesias):{{cite web|title=Law nr. 11-A/2013, page 552 80|url=http://dre.pt/pdf1sdip/2013/01/01901/0000200147.pdf |access-date=29 July 2014|author=Diário da República|author-link=Diário da República|language=pt}}

• Famalicão
• Nazaré
• Valado dos Frades

File:Nazaré Areal view.jpg

Over the 20th century, Nazaré progressively evolved from a fishing village to a point of interest among Portuguese and international tourists,{{cite web |title=History |url=http://nazare.worldsurfguides.com/historia/ |publisher=nazare.worldsurfguides.com |access-date=28 November 2021 |language=pt-pt}} advertising itself as a picturesque seaside village.

Located on the Atlantic coast, it has long sandy beaches, attracting many tourists in the summer. The town used to be known for the traditional costumes worn by the fishermen. Women traditionally wear a headscarf and flannel skirt, embroidered in seven different colours. The costumes are still worn occasionally.

File:Nazaré IMG 6981 (21119292635).jpg

It is quite visited due to the religious festivals{{cite web |title=Nazaré: a hidden village in Portugal that you must visit |date=20 April 2022 |url=https://www.elmens.com/travel/nazare-a-hidden-village-in-portugal-that-you-must-visit/ |publisher=ELMENS.com |access-date=26 April 2022}} dedicated to Our Lady of Nazaré, in which there are processions and also some profane celebrations.

Many of the tourists and Catholic pilgrims who visit Central Portugal, and especially the internationally famous Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (located nearby in Cova da Iria), go to Nazaré for a visit or to watch the surfing championships.

• Doctor Joaquim Manso Folk and Archeological Museum
• Sacred Art Museum of Reitor Luís Nesi
• Fisherman House-Museum
• Nazaré Bullring
• Nazaré Cultural Centre{{Cite web|url=https://www.portugaltravel.org/museums-in-nazare|title=Museums in Nazaré|website=www.portugaltravel.org|access-date=2017-09-09}}

{{See also|List of surfing records}}{{Multiple image

|align=right |direction=vertical |width=240

|image1=Nazaré, Portugal (Unsplash 7bt4ngmSu9Y).jpg |caption1=Tow-in surfing near the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo lighthouse

|image2=Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal (33830450815).jpg |caption2=Giant breaking waves in Praia do Norte

|image3=Can you see the surfer? (33988985575).jpg |caption3=The Praia do Norte (North Beach) was listed on the Guinness World Records for the biggest waves ever surfed (formed under the influence of the Nazaré Canyon)

}}

Nazaré is a popular surfing destination because of the high breaking waves that form due to the presence of the underwater Nazaré Canyon.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18036392 |title=Hawaiian surfer breaks wave-riding record at Nazare, Portugal |publisher=BBC News |date=2012-05-11 |access-date=2012-08-22}} The canyon increases and converges the incoming ocean swell which, in conjunction with the local water current, dramatically enlarges wave heights.{{cite web |title=The mechanics of the Nazaré Canyon wave |url=https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-mechanics-of-the-nazare-canyon-wave |website=Surfer Today |access-date=2020-09-23}}

Due to the height of the waves, numerous surfing records have been set at Nazaré. In November 2011, surfer Garrett McNamara surfed a then-record-breaking giant wave measuring {{convert|23.8|m|abbr=on}} from trough to crest, at Praia do Norte, Nazaré.{{cite web|url=http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/mcnamara-claims-record-for-biggest-wave-ever-surfed/ |title=McNamara Claims Record For Biggest Wave Ever Surfed |publisher=CBS Los Angeles |date=2012-05-08 |access-date=2012-08-22}} On 8 November 2017 Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa broke the previous record by surfing a wave of {{convert|24.4|m|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/78115-largest-wave-surfed-unlimited|title=Largest wave surfed (unlimited) - male|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=2018-10-08}}{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/sports/80-foot-monster-wave-gives-brazilian-surfer-world-record-judges-say|title=80 foot monster wave gives brazilian surfer world record, judges say|publisher=Fox News|date=2018-04-30|access-date=2018-05-01|language=en}} In October 2020, German surfer Sebastian Steudtner broke this record, riding a wave which was measured at {{convert|26.2|m|abbr=on}}.{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/05/24/surfing-record-sebastian-steudtner/ |title= Surfing a record 86-foot wave took guts. Measuring it took 18 months.|newspaper=Washington post|date=2020-05-25|access-date=2020-05-25}}

There has been a marked increase in visitors to viewing points for surfing competitions, such as the lighthouse at the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo, which has seen numbers increase from 80,000 visitors in 2015 to 174,000 in 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.the-businessreport.com/article/the-economic-power-of-surf/ |title=The economic power of surf |publisher=The Business Report |access-date=24 January 2019}}

On 18 January 2018, Brazilian big-wave surfer Maya Gabeira surfed a wave of 24.7 meters (74 feet).{{Cite web |date=2020-09-10 |title=Brazilian surfer Maya Gabeira breaks largest wave surfed record |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2020/9/brazilian-surfer-maya-gabeira-breaks-largest-wave-surfed-record-630505 |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Guinness World Records |language=en-gb}}{{Cite news |last=Rachini |first=Mouhamad |date=2022-09-13 |title=How surfer Maya Gabeira battled injury, sexism — and the biggest waves |work=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/how-surfer-maya-gabeira-battled-injury-sexism-and-the-biggest-waves-1.6580911 |access-date=2023-05-31}}

On 5 January 2023, Brazilian professional surfer Márcio Freire died whilst practicing tow-in surfing. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64187713 Márcio Freire: 'Mad Dogs' legendary surfer killed in Portugal's giant waves] BBC News

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Portugal}}

Nazaré is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Geminações de Cidades e Vilas |url=https://www.anmp.pt/anmp/pro/mun1/gem101l0.php?cod_ent=M2450 |publisher=ANMP |access-date=18 November 2020}}{{cite journal|journal=Hoy|first=Ángela|last=Murillo|date=16 April 2007|url=http://www.hoy.es/prensa/20070416/badajoz/cinco-ciudades-hermanas_20070416.html|title=Cinco ciudades hermanas|publisher=Hoy.es|language=es|access-date=9 July 2013}}

• {{flagicon|ESP}} Badajoz, Spain (since 1987)
• {{flagicon|FRA}} Nogent-sur-Marne, France (since 1993)
• {{flagicon|JPN}} Zushi, Japan (since 2004)

• Luis Soares (born 1964 in Nazaré), a long-distance runner, competed for France at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Brothers Ricardo Esgaio (born 1993) & Tiago Esgaio (born 1995), Portuguese footballers
• Brothers Mauro Eustáquio (born 1993) & Stephen Eustáquio (born 1996), Canadian footballers

• Legend of Nazaré
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré
• Nazaré Canyon
• Nazaré Funicular
• Praia do Norte (Nazaré)
• Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wikivoyage|Nazaré}}

{{commons category|Nazaré}}

• {{Official website|http://www.cm-nazare.pt/en|Municipality official website}}

{{Comunidade Intermunicipal do Oeste}}

{{Municipalities of Leiria}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazare (Portugal)}}

Category:Big wave surfing

Category:Populated places in Oeste e Vale do Tejo

Category:Seaside resorts in Portugal

Category:Towns in Portugal

Category:Municipalities of Leiria District

Category:Municipalities of Portugal