Through the Lands of Serra de Aire

From Torres Novas, along local paths and country roads, the route heads north, through a territory that offers contact with an imposing natural environment of indigenous fauna and flora. In the Estremadura Limestone Massif, stone moulds the landscape and marks the life of the small villages. After the villages of Pedrogão and Alqueidão, visitors find themselves in the rugged and beautiful surroundings of the Serras d’Aire e Candeeiros, cut by the cold wind in winter and bathed in hot sun in summer. The path is marked out by the stone walls that delimit the small properties in the valleys and on the slopes, where olive trees and grain cultivation predominate. Close to the residential area we find the Dinosaur Footprints Natural Monument, a palaeontological site that protects important evidence from the Jurassic period. With nature constantly revealing forms and configurations of rare beauty, the route continues through Vale de Cavalos. In this Mediterranean landscape, the diverse natural surroundings are multicoloured. Patches of oaks, holm oaks and cork oaks alternate with rosemary, gorse, and broom. As we approach our final destination, rurality and urbanity come to coexist. The Shrine of Our Lady of Ortiga bears witness to the antiquity of Marian worship in the region. After passing the main Church of Fátima, the journey ends at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, next to the Chapel of the Apparitions.