Freixianda-Ourem 26 km
30 July 2025
We will start this caminho by driving to our starting point! We go a little bit earlier because the Chief Pilgrim joins us! We go at 6:00 to Fonte Coberta, the place where the Chief Pilgrims lives. It is along the trail to Santiago de Compostella, 7 km further. We will start walking in the opposite direction In Freixianda. In order to avoid the heat we will change our rhythm in the morning! For today, the 26 km walk, we start too late. It is already 7:00 when I park the car. The temperatures above 35 degrees will not be merciful on us during the last 5-7 km.
Berlin Wall in Fatima!
I know a lot of details of the stories around Fatima by know, I will give the information about the shepherds to the pilgrims when they arrive in Fatima. There is a movie Fatima too, but I didn’t see it yet. There is a new mystery for me… a fourth Fatima mystery?! My friend Claudia from Ansiao told me about it. I will explore when I reach Fatima.
Obviously there is a large piece of the Berlin wall in the Sanctuary. Interesting…?! I guess I must have seen it already because I visted the place at least three times. We’ll see tomorrow.
Nice Villages Along this Route
There are enough cafes and restaurants along this route from Freixianda to Ourem. There are cafes in Freixianda already open around 7:15. We stoppend at least three times to drink coffee or eat ice cream.
In Ourem we pass a Lidle and we go in. I desperately need lip sun protector. We also see the cemetery where Francisco and Jacinta were buried before they were transported to the Sanctuary in Fatima (that one was not built yet, when they died of the pestilence).
At the end, when you leave town, there is a nice bakery called Veneza. It has air conditioning, so it is really comfortable to rest here. Perfect for us to take a break. The woman who helps us speaks German to us. And she tells us she is from the family of Francisco, the young shepherd boy who witnessed the angels and Maria. This would be a good end for the long day. I only couldn’t find a place to stay. There are no albergues, and I didn’t see places in Ourem, except all the way up, near the castle of Ourem. So we continue our journey up.
Castle of Ourem
The Caminho to Fatima splits after the Veneza cafe. There is an alternative route up to the castle and there is the continuation of the Carmelite route. We took the alternative route because our sleeping place is up there. But it is up to you, if you have a lot of energy, take the challenge. The views are gorgeous. The castle is a special one.
The walk up is heavy. Especially during a hot day. The Chief feels so bad walking up, the heat and the tough climb get to him, he felt nauseous after drinking a liter of a milk fruit drink, he just bought in the supermarket.
Reaching the little place is really nice, fresh water from the fountain, two or three restaurants and a nice cafe. Our first caminho day is a fact.
Casa do Castello
The alojamento local where we sleep is nice. It has a roof top, and there is a table with fruit, cookies, coffee and tea. Since we were the only one, I witness the view on the rooftop.
I think there even is a restaurant, but it is closed. We go to the only place which is open Leitao & Co. I like leitao, it is the specialty of Mealhada (on the caminho to Santiago de Compostela) and you get crispy babypork meat, chips and salad together with bubbles. We leave the last one out.
I see the sunset and tomorrow there must be a stunning sunrise!
We don’t see any pilgrims, but I didn’t expect that. Portugal is empty and with the heat nobody is on the road. Except these crazy ones! But….We are not the only ones who walked here. See BBC crew and pilgrims!
Have a look, an interesting documentary about the pilgrimage in Portugal.
