Private Tour: Discover the Rich Medieval History of Obidos

You will visit Obidos is the finest example of a Portuguese walled town, and is one of the best tourist destinations of the Lisbon region.
Historically, Obidos was presented to the Queen of Portugal on her wedding day, a tradition that began with Queen Urraca in 1214 and continued until the 19th century. This royal patronage has left an enduring legacy of pride within the town, and today it is one of the most characterful towns of central Portugal.

You will explore Obidos; there are narrow-cobbled streets, traditional painted houses, and an imposing medieval castle.

The region surrounding Obidos is as equally fascinating, there is the working fishing port of Peniche, the pristine beaches of Lagoa de Obidos and even Europe’s largest collection of Buddha statues, at the Buddha Eden. Obidos is a great base from which to exploring this enthralling region, and the town is rapidly becoming a popular destination for a holiday.
This article will provide a tourist guide to Obidos, and provides links to further in-depth information.

Visit the Chapel of our Lady of Mercy- No sooner had Óbidos been recaptured from the Moors by Kind Afonso Henriques in 1148 than this church was founded on the main square.

There isn’t much left of the medieval building, and this is down to seismic events, quite literally: Following an earthquake in the 15oos the first of a few reconstruction campaigns gave the church its present Mannerist design.

Almost every inch of the interior walls is clad with tiles from the 1600s and 1700s, and there’s a marvellous retable from the same period.

But the thing you have to see is the Renaissance tomb of João de Noronha in the Chapel of our Lady of Mercy, fashioned by French sculptors Jean de Rouen and Nicolas Chantereine.

Allow some time to potter around the square in front of the church, as there are some neat things if you know where to find them.

One is the pillory, a monument to the town’s autonomy and a place to punish criminals.

This is from the 1400s and bears the coat of arms of Eleanor of Viseu.

A poignant detail on the crest is a net, which symbolises the fisherman’s net that her infant son was wrapped in after he drowned in the Tagus.

Beneath this is a 16th-century fountain once fed by the town’s aqueduct.

Up on the north side is the Telheiro, a building easy to recognise for its portico with six columns, and housing the town’s indoor market until the 1900s.

Visit the hexagonal sanctuary to the north of Óbidos merits a detour for the stone cross in its altar, etched with a primitive image of the crucifixion.

One glance will tell you that the cross is extremely old, and it has been dated to the 2nd or 3rd centuries.

It has been at this place since long before this Baroque church.

The story goes that Queen Eleanor of Viseu placed the cross nearby in the 1500s to indicate the route to Caldas da Rainha, hot springs that she founded.

It was forgotten until being rediscovered by a farmer in 1730 gaining a new generation of devotees and resulting in the church that was finished in 1737.