The lively district capital of the Ribatejo, overlooking the Tagus, has an
illustrious past. To Julius Caesar it was an important bureaucratic centre,
Praesidium Julium. To the Moors it was the stronghold of Xantarim – from Santa
Iria, the 7th-century martyred nun from Tomar whose body was thrown into the
River Nabão and allegedly reappeared here on the Tagus shore. To the Portuguese
kings, who ousted the Moors in 1147, Santarém was a pleasing abode and the site
of many gatherings of the cortes  (parliaments).

At the centre of the old town, in Praça Sá da Bandeira, is the vast Igreja do Seminário , a multi-windowed Baroque edifice built by João IV
for the Jesuits in 1640 on the site of a royal palace. The huge interior has a
painted wooden ceiling and marble and gilt ornamentation. From here, Rua Serpa
Pinto runs southeast past a cluster of older buildings. The lofty Igreja de Marvila , built in the 12th century and later altered, has a
Manueline portal and is lined with dazzling early 17th-century diamond-patterned
azulejo  panels. The medieval, although much restored 22-m
(72-ft) high Torre das Cabaças , was once a clock tower and now
houses a small museum of time, Núcleo Museológical do Tempo .
Opposite the tower, the Museu Arqueológico  was formerly the
Romanesque church of São João de Alporão. Unfortunately, the museum has been
closed because of unstable foundations, and has no reopening date as yet.

Rua Serpa Pinto leads into Rua 5 de Outubro and up to the Jardim das
Portas do Sol , built on the site of a Moorish castle. The gardens are
enclosed by the city’s medieval walls, and a terrace affords a panorama of the
river and its vast meadowlands. Returning into town, on Largo Pedro Álvares
Cabral, the 14th-century Igreja da Graça  has a spectacular
rose window carved from a single stone. The church contains the tombstone of
Pedro Álvares Cabral, who discovered Brazil. Further south, the 14th-century Igreja do Santíssimo Milagre , on Rua Braamcamp Freire, has a
Renaissance interior and 16th-century azulejos . A small
crystal flask in the sacristy is said to contain the blood of Christ. The belief
stems from a 13th-century legend in which a holy wafer intended to help persuade
a husband to stop beating his wife was miraculously transformed into blood.

Santarém is an important bullfighting centre with a modern bullring at the
southwest corner of town. During the first ten days of June, the town hosts the
Ribatejo Fair, Portugal’s largest agricultural fair, in which there are
bullfights and contests between the colourfully dressed herdsmen, campinos . In the autumn (Oct/Nov) Portugal’s biggest gastronomy
festival is held here, with lots of informal eating at stands representing the
country’s regions and types of food.