Beside a glorious beach in a sweeping bay backed by steep cliffs, this fishing
village is a popular summer resort that has maintained some of its traditional
character. Fishermen dressed in checked shirts and black stocking caps and
fishwives wearing several layers of petticoats can still be seen mending nets
and drying fish on wire racks on the beach. The bright boats with tall prows
that once were hauled from the sea by oxen are still used, although now they
have a proper anchorage south of the beach. According to legend the name Nazaré
comes from a statue of the Virgin Mary brought to the town by a monk from
Nazareth in the 4th century.

High on the cliff above the town is Sítio , reached by a
funicular that climbs 110 m (360 ft). At the cliff edge stands the tiny Ermida da Memória . According to legend, this is where the
Virgin Mary saved Dom Fuas Roupinho, a local dignitary, and his horse from
following a deer that leapt off the cliff in a sea mist in 1182. Across the
square, the 17th-century church of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré ,
with two Baroque belfries and 18th-century tiles inside, contains an anonymous
painting of the miraculous rescue. The church also contains the revered image of
Our Lady of Nazaré. In September this statue is borne down to the sea in a
traditional procession, a colourful reminder of the town’s origins.